INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a statement to clarify recent confusion regarding its involvement in the Kano State Governorship election petition case.

Reports suggesting INEC’s withdrawal from the appeal process were based on an unauthorised letter, which has since been retracted. 

In an official announcement, Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, noted that the letter in question was not authorised and does not reflect INEC’s stance.

He reassured the public and stakeholders that the INEC has not withdrawn from the case or abandoned the appeal.

When INEC is involved in a legal matter, the Commission is bound to respond appropriately, and this commitment remains steadfast. 

Olumekun reaffirmed INEC’s dedication to upholding the law and ensuring justice prevails.

He stated that the Commission has instructed its legal representatives to proceed with the case in accordance with established policies, which remain unchanged.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Senator Lawal Adamu Usman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone, has bitterly denied the allegation swirling around that he forged certificates and threatened to take legal action.

Senator Usman was said to have presented a fraudulent academic certificate as part of the documents presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 election.

Reports have it that a former student of the Department Public Administration of Ameer Shehu Idris College of Advanced Studies, Zaria, had claimed that the serving senator used her result to gain admission into a university.

But in his reaction, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman, in a letter through his solicitors Messrs E. N. Ogbu & Associates, stated that the story published on 12th July 2023 with the caption: “Kaduna Senator used my result for varsity admission, witness tells tribunals” is libelous and defamatory, and therefore threatened legal action.

The letter further reads: “However, the procedure to obtain these facts were thrown to the wind with respect to the reportage in itself as same, according to our Client, were a calculated effort to wickedly dent an image and status earned over the years by dint of hard work.

“Our Client has suffered emotional and psychological trauma over the “fake news” printed to dent his hard-earned reputation in the eyes of the public over information that is not only false but inexistent.”

“The Nigerian Government has times without numbers strictly warned the generality of the public against spreading what is now known to be “fake news.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government of Nigeria has described the recently concluded 2023 general elections as the most authentic ever held in Nigeria since independence.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday while fielding questions from journalists after the FEC meeting.

He stated that despite efforts by the opposition parties to delegitimize the election, it was the most transparent, freest and authentic ever held in Nigeria.

Muhammed disclosed this as one of the reasons President Muhammadu Buhari refused to interfere with the Adamawa State poll debacle.

He added that the issue was strictly the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission to sort out the matter

According to the Minister, it is not in Buhari’s character to micromanage the government’s institutions.

Mohammed said: “I don’t think that this government has ever intervened in the way the Independent National Electoral Commission conducts its elections.

“So, there’s no need for us to intervene. It was an entirely INEC matter, and INEC handled it.

“The chairman of INEC is in charge of all employees in INEC, and he’s handling it. So, what do you want the government to do?”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared null and void the declaration of Mrs Binani as the winner of the Adamawa supplementary gubernatorial election.

In a statement released through the commission’s verified social media handles, Barr. Festus Okoye, National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, noted that the commission had suspended all the processes of the supplementary election.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a purported declaration of winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) even when the process has clearly not been concluded.

“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer. It is null, void and of no effect.

“Consequently, the collation of results of the supplementary election is hereby suspended. The REC, Returning Officer and all involved are hereby invited to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja immediately.

The statement added that a “detailed statement” would follow shortly.

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

Nigerians yearning to return to the path of democracy saw the light of day in 1999 when the military head of state, the late Sani Abacha, succumbed to the pressure to plan the Democratic transition. The Independent National Electoral Commission was therefore (established in 1998) and tasked to oversee the election process of the young democracy.

In its maiden election, INEC adopted a secret ballot system. This was a departure from the 1993 election: an open ballot system where voters lined up behind the poster of their candidate of choice. Although this system of voting was seen as the fairest, safest, and cheapest but on other hand, it was dubbed as a violation of voter’s choice privacy.

Other developments brought by INEC in the 1999 election were improved voter cards, transparent ballot boxes, and invitations from foreign observers. Despite irregularities in some areas, the reports said the 1999 election was free and fair. This is evidenced by the relative spread of victory across political parties in the election.

But, things began to go wild in the next election. Again, the incumbents would hold tight. They would fight tooth and nail to ensure their re-election. To make matters worse, the 2003 election (like 1999) was fragile and vulnerable, courtesy of the manual process, from voter registration to accreditation and collation.

The quality of the election process went further down the hill in 2007. When this time around, the incumbent swore to anoint their successors. And transparency and information were not in the public domain compared to the current election process.

But the election process improvements began to take off after 2007. When the winning presidential candidate Umar Musa Yar’adua not only conceded the irregularities in the election that brought him but pledged to improve the election process. He would be committed to his promise and set up a Justice Muhammad Uwais committee.

Although Umar Yar’adua’s determination threatened to hit a glass ceiling with his untimely death but his successor, Good Luck Ebele Jonathan, continued with the electoral reform. As a result, Prof. Attahiru Jega, a widely respected technocrat with an unassailable good track record, took charge of the umpire. From 2010 to 2015, when he led the commission, he brought game-changing policies such as electronic accreditation, the academics for results collation, security features on form EC 8A series as well as ballot papers, provision of clusters (for timely movement of polling team to polling units), and creating voting points to decongest Polling Units.

Like the 1999 election, national and international observers praised the outcome of the results. The 2015 General Election brought back hope to many Nigerian electorates. For the first time in the history of the Nigerian election, the incumbent President would be removed from office by the opposition. The then president Jonathan conceding to the defeat was equally remarkable and unprecedented.

The 2019 and 2023 General elections saw the electoral process in Nigeria blossom. However, professor Mahmoud Yakub will raise the bar even higher. Thanks to the electoral act 2022, Yakub would not consolidate Prof. Jega’s gains only but add other innovative developments: online voter registration, BVAS, IREV, e-school, and chatbot (for public education and effective training on the election process), provision of PVC collected in the margin of lead principle (to reduce the prevalence of “rerun”), finance tracking (to checkmate politicians excessive spending). And that is not all. He converted voting points to polling units, widening the ad-hoc number (collation officers and SPOs). In short, the election process went digital, from registration and accreditation to collation.

The progressive timeline success of INEC was made possible due to the continuity of development from one chairman to another, the dedication and perseverance of the entire INEC staff (both ad hoc and permanent), and the public unreserved scrutiny. With this steady improvement in the election process, the most touted electronic and even voting ahead of election time are not far-fetched.

Bilyamin Abdulmumin can be contacted via bilal4riid13@gmail.com.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Governor-elect, Kaduna State, Distinguished Senator Uba Sani, and his deputy, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, were issued Certificates of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday.

This came after their victory at the March 18 governorship election in the state. Accordingly, the issuance of the certificate of return included lawmakers-elect to the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

Senator Sani, who won the election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, garnered 730,000 votes to defeat his closest rival, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), Isah Ashiru, who polled 719,196 votes.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Youth Society for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Social Vices (YOSPIS) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to forestall the recurrence of the mistakes that pervaded the Kano State gubernatorial election. 

YOSPIS made the appeal in a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Zainab Nasir Ahmad, on Wednesday. 

In the statement, the group outlined their observations of the election and recommended what INEC should do differently in subsequent elections. 

Some of the group’s recommendations include reducing the number of party agents at the polling unit, addressing the technical issues of BVAS, and the security of electoral materials, amongst other things. 

The group congratulated the Kano governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf and wished him the best in his administration.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday, April 15, for the conduct of all supplementary elections. 

On Monday, the commission made this known in a press statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye. 

Part of the statement reads: ” The Commission has fixed Saturday, 15th April 2023, for the conduct of the supplementary elections in the affected polling units nationwide.

We appeal to all political parties, candidates and stakeholders to note the date and locations of the supplementary elections. The earlier accreditation for polling and collation agents, observers and the media still subsists for the supplementary elections.”  

As regards the gubernatorial polls, voting is expected to take place in Kebbi and Adamawa states on the said date. 

The governorship elections in Adamawa and Kebbi states were earlier declared inconclusive by INEC owing to cancelled votes, which were more than the margins between leading candidates.

INEC will also conduct supplementary elections for federal and state parliamentary elections, which were declared inconclusive on the said date.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Kano State Transition Monitoring Committee, TMG, has denied calling for the review of Kano guber election results and cautioned people with evil intentions not to smear the integrity of credible civil society organisations in the state.

TMG, in a joint press release with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC) and the Kano State Civil Society Elections Situation Room, gave the advice in Kano on Saturday.

The organisations totally denounced the reports that they called for the cancellation and review of the governorship election in Kano State.

According to them, unscrupulous persons in the state are hell-bent on sneering at the integrity of civil society groups that have been working hard over the years to ensure electoral integrity in Nigeria.

“For obvious selfish and politically motivated reasons, some faceless groups in conjunction with some willing elements in the media have cooked up fake stories about civil society organisations calling for cancellation of the governorship election in Kano State and other parts of the country. ” The Group disclosed.

They stated that the news is fictitious malicious, and worrisome, and they will not condone attempts to be dragged into the mud.

“The spread of this fictitious and malicious news, in a time when the political space in Nigeria is already heated up, is not only worrisome but also has the potential to further overheat the polity. As champions of democracy, we will not allow sneer-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible civil society organisations in Kano State and, indeed, in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties.”

The group, therefore, called on individuals to disregard the reports making rounds that represented credible organisations in a bad light. They also urge media organisations to filter facts before reporting.

By Mubarak Umar

With the Supreme Court judgment affirming Senator Rufai Sani Hanga of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the Senator-Elect, Kano Central Senatorial District, the people of Kano Central have reason to rejoice.

Kano Central is genuinely abuzz with excitement following the judgment. Senator Hanga challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau as the winner of the February 25, 2023, senatorial election in Kano Central.

This victory of Senator Hanga is a significant boost for the NNPP. It also demonstrates the importance of pursuing justice through the appropriate legal channels rather than resorting to violence or other unlawful means. This is a win for democracy and the rule of law, a testament to his resilience and determination to fight for his right.

I am delighted that Senator Hanga has been elected to represent Kano Central at the National Assembly. With his experience and dedication to public service, I believe he will be an effective advocate for his constituents and a valuable asset to the Nigerian government.

A graduate of Accountancy, one-time member of the House of Representatives (1992-1993), and senator who represented Kano Central from 2003 to 2007, Hanga chaired several committees. They include Chairman Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes; Chairman Senate Sub-Committee on Housing and Urban Development; Chairman Sub-Committee on Finance; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Tourism and Culture; and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties.

These positions contributed to Senator Hanga’s deep understanding of Nigeria’s political and economic landscape. In addition, he has shown himself to be a skilled negotiator and collaborator, able to work effectively with others to achieve common goals. These qualities will serve him well as he navigates the complex issues facing the Kano people, particularly his constituents.

Senator Hanga has demonstrated a solid commitment to developing his community and the nation. His focus on education, healthcare, and infrastructure has been commendable. I am confident that he will continue to work tirelessly to address these and other critical challenges facing his constituents.

He is a politician with an impressive track record of public service, making him a valuable asset to any government. With years of experience working at various levels of government, Senator Hanga has developed a deep understanding of the political process, the needs of his constituents, and the challenges facing the country. His wealth of experience and expertise will undoubtedly prove invaluable in driving positive change and development initiatives in Kano Central.

Kano Central Senatorial District, located in northern Nigeria with fifteen local government areas, is known for its political and economic importance. It is the metropolitan commercial city of Kano, one of the largest cities in Nigeria.

One of the major reasons Kano Central needs good representation at Nigeria’s National Assembly is to ensure that the interests and needs of its people are adequately represented and addressed at the national level. This is important because the National Assembly is responsible for making laws that affect the entire country. It is also crucial that the laws made are fair and just for all Nigerians, including those in Kano Central. Now, the voices of Kano Central people will be heard, and their needs will be addressed in the national discourse.

Senator Hanga’s representation at the National Assembly should ensure that Kano Central gets its fair share of the national resources. This includes funds for infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and other social amenities. Moreover, with his effective representation, the district will not be left behind in terms of economic development, as policies that promote economic growth and development are made at the national level.

Furthermore, Kano Central is facing several challenges that require urgent attention from the National Assembly. These challenges include insecurity, unemployment, poverty, and a lack of access to clean water and electricity. Effective representation at the National Assembly can help to address these challenges and improve the standard of living of the people of Kano Central.

The importance of good representation at Nigeria’s National Assembly cannot be overemphasized. The National Assembly is the highest legislative body in Nigeria, responsible for making laws that govern the country. Therefore, good representation is crucial for developing any district or constituency.

Kano Central is in dire need of infrastructure development. The district is home to several markets, industries, and transportation hubs, making it a hub of economic activity in the state. However, the lack of good roads, electricity and other basic amenities hinders economic growth. A good representation of Senator Hanga at the National Assembly should ensure that the district receives adequate funding for infrastructure development.

Kano Central has several tertiary institutions, including Bayero University, Kano State Polytechnic, and Yusuf Maitama Sule University. However, the education sector in the district needs significant improvement. His representation at the National Assembly should ensure that these institutions receive adequate funding to improve the quality of education and provide better facilities for students.

Kano Central is also in dire need of better healthcare facilities. The district has several hospitals and health centres, but most are understaffed and lack adequate medical equipment. Senator Hanga should ensure that the district receives proper funding for healthcare facilities and training and medical personnel recruitment.

Kano Central has a high rate of unemployment, especially among the youth. Senator Hanga now has the opportunity to use all means of legislation that can attract foreign investors to the state and promote entrepreneurship, leading to job creation and economic growth.

Kano Central has experienced several security challenges recently, especially phone snatching, political thuggery, and burglary. Senator Hanga should ensure the district receives adequate security funding to combat these challenges and maintain peace.

I am excited to see what Senator Hanga will accomplish during his time in office. With his dedication to public service, commitment to his constituents, and extensive knowledge of the Nigerian political landscape, I am confident that he will be a valuable and effective representative for Kano Central. I wish him all the best in his new role, and I look forward to seeing his positive impact on the people of Kano and Nigeria.

Mubarak Umar can be contacted via mubarakumar96@yahoo.com.