March 04 (THEWILL) – Following the shortcomings and criticisms that characterised the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has appealed for calm and patience from Nigerians, promising that it will make amends with the March 11 governorship elections.
Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, therefore, warned Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), to take the elections seriously, as the commission will not hesitate to take action against any officer found wanting during the exercise.
Yakubu issued the warning on Saturday while giving his address at a meeting with the RECs in Abuja.
“As we approach the Governorship and State Assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians.
“All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections.
“RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.
“Election Day logistics must be finalised days before the election and handled by the Electoral Officers (EOs) at the Local Government level. This has been our standard practice. Centralising the process as was done in some States resulted in delayed deployment of personnel and materials and late commencement of polls.
“RECs will be held responsible for any tardy arrangement or the failure to deploy electric power generators to collation centres or polling units where such facilities are needed. The Commission has enough facilities in all the States of the Federation. Failure to deploy them is simply inexcusable.
“On Election Day technology, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will once again be deployed for voter accreditation and result management.
“The deployment of BVAS has gone a long way to sanitise voter accreditation as can be seen from the result of recent elections. Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally”, he said.
Yakubu noted that the commission has received complaints and petitions from political parties, and candidates arising from last week’s election and promised that “Where infractions of any kind are proven, there will be redress.
“I must add that any action taken by the Commission is without prejudice to the rights of parties and candidates to seek further remedy as provided by law”, Yakubu clarified.
He said the Commission has scheduled the issuance of certificates of return to elected members of the National Assembly for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Certificates of Return will be presented to Senators-elect on Tuesday, 7th March, 2023, at 11.00 am at the National Collation Centre (the International Conference Centre), Abuja, while Members of the House of Representatives-elect will receive theirs the following day, Wednesday, 8th March, 2023, at 11.00 am, at the same venue.
“However, for effective crowd management, each Senator/Member-elect should be accompanied by a maximum of two guests. The comprehensive list of all members-elect will be uploaded to the Commission’s website shortly”, he said.
The elected legislators include 98 out of 109 Senate, and 325 out of 360 House of Representatives seats.
Yakubu said winners were declared for 423 legislative seats, indicating that supplementary elections would be conducted in 46 other constituencies.
Yakubu also disclosed that only eight out of the 18 registered political parties that contested the presidential and National Assembly polls were able to secure a seat,
He said Seven parties won in the Senate, while eight parties won House of Representatives seats.
In terms of party representation, Yakubu said the incoming National Assembly is the most diverse since 1999.
Yakubu said, “No doubt, last week’s national elections raised a number of issues that require immediate, medium, and long-term solutions. The planning for the election was painstakingly done. However, its implementation came with challenges, some of them unforeseen. The issues of logistics, election technology, the behaviour of some election personnel at different levels, the attitude of some party agents and supporters added to the extremely challenging environment in which elections are usually held in Nigeria
“A lot of lessons have been learnt. Of immediate concern to the Commission is how the identified challenges can be addressed as we approach the concluding phase of the General Election involving the largest number of constituencies i.e. 28 State Governorship elections and 993 State Houses of Assembly seats.
“In last Saturday’s elections, winners have also been declared for 423 national legislative seats while supplementary elections will be held in 46 constituencies. In the Senate, 98 out of 109 seats have been declared. So far, seven political parties have won senatorial seats while in the House of Representatives, 325 out of 360 seats have been won by eight political parties.
“In terms of party representation, this is the most diverse national assembly since 1999…”
Yakubu noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), retained a majority with 57 senate seats and 162 at the House of Representatives.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had 29 senate seats and 102 in the House of Representatives, while the Labour Party has six in the senate and 34 in the House of Representatives
While the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) secured two senate and 18 House of Representatives seats, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won two seats each for senate and House of Representatives
Professor Yakubu further disclosed that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) won one senate seat each, while APGA secured four House of Representatives seats as against YPP’s one, just as the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) managed two Houses for Representatives seats.
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