The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday said the commission will not be deterred by allegations from partisan politicians, as it prepares for
Saturday’s re-run elections in Rivers state.
He said INEC would never shirk in its responsibilities to conduct free and fair elections as it consolidates on the success of 2016 elections conducted in Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ondo and now Rivers.
Fielding questions from journalists at the State House Abuja after President Muhammad Buhari swore in six INEC Commissioners, Yakubu said Rivers elections was not different from the others conducted by the
commission, however the votes must count.
“We want to pledge to Nigerians that we will never shirk in that responsibilities. We’ll continue to discharge our responsibilities according to the law and the constitution of this country.
“INEC is poised to consolidate on the achievements of the 2016 elections. We wouldn’t be distracted by the allegations, we would do what we have always done to the best of our ability bearing in mind
that we have a responsibility to the Nigerian nation. We would go to Rivers, conduct free, fair and credible elections, declare winners and leave the next level to the judiciary.
“However, there is nothing new that we are going to do in Rivers beyond what we’ve always done. Votes must count because ultimately it is the people of Rivers that will determine who will become their senators, members of the house of Representatives and the members of the state assembly.
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had accused the INEC of working with the Nigeria Police and members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to rig the re-run elections. The governor had also alleged that the electoral body already handed out result sheets of the elections to former governor of Rivers and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.
He denied allegations on the release of names of members of APC as INEC returning officers for the Rivers elections, the electoral stating that there were not new.
According to him “election after election there are allegations that we compromise the recruitment of adhoc staff for the elections and in the recruitment of National Returning Officers, there is nothing like that”.
The standard practice is to recruit adhoc staff from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and where there is a shortfall we recruit from federal tertiary institutions. And from Rivers there was a list from the University of Port Harcourt to make up for the shortfall in adhoc staff. We would continue to discharge our responsibilities, we won’t be distracted and INEC will never join issues with partisan politicians, he added.
On the alleged thumb-printing of sensitive electoral materials ahead of the elections, Yakubu said “I learnt about it that somebody was printing sensitive electoral materials in Rivers. First, we have no proof of printing sensitive material in the state where elections is
conducted.
“At the time the allegation was made we had not even awarded the
contract for the printing of the sensitive materials. So, it came as a
huge surprise to us. But we have gone ahead to invite the police and
the State Security Service (SSS) to investigate the matter because we
are also interested in getting to the bottom of it. But is really
strange to say that INEC will print fake material for elections. Is
like accusing the Central Bank of printing fake Naira notes. Who has
the original?”
He also told newsmen that six more commissioners expected to join
those sworn in by the President earlier. According to him those
already sworn in were bringing a wealth of experience when it is most
needed.
“Six additional commoners are coming on board. It’s not just the
number that is important to us but what they are bringing. We have a
lawyer, we have an engineer, we have a seasoned media practitioner, we
have a retired Air Vice Marshal, we have former Resident Electoral
Commissioner, we have an expert in planning and in relationship with
international development partners.
“They are coming at a time when we are putting all the re-run and
bye-elections behind us. Next, we would then face the challenges of
taking the commission forward. There are a number of things that we
need to do. We need to revisit the delimitation of constituencies, we
need to review additional polling units in this country, we need to
look at the issue of separate constituencies and we also need to have
a conversation in this country about the cost of election. These are
the issues going forward and there are many more”.
