14 Political Parties Notify INEC of Primaries

 Chuks Okocha

Fourteen political parties out of 18 political parties have notified the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of their readiness for the presidential, governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly primaries.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during a meeting with all the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja. 

The commission however did not mention the four political parties that have not notified the commission of their primary elections.  

All the political parties are expected from May to June 4 to have started and completed their primary elections. 

The commission further told the political parties that they must present the hard and soft copies of their membership register 30 days before each primary election. 

According to the INEC chairman, “The next activity under the timetable is the conduct of party primaries by political parties. So far, 14 parties have submitted their notices and schedule of primaries to the Commission. 

“As required by law, the Commission shall monitor the primaries in the constituencies where the parties intend to field candidates. This means that the state offices will be heavily involved in the exercise. I urge you to exercise our monitoring responsibility with absolute neutrality. There are sanctions for violation of the law and you should know this and warn our staff accordingly.”

Prof. Yakubu further stressed, “Let me also seize this opportunity to remind political parties that by the provision of Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022, each party is required to maintain a membership register in hard and soft copy and to make such register available to the Commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses and conventions. So far, only one political party has complied.

“It is a mandatory requirement of the law and all parties are required to comply. Doing otherwise is like going into an election without the register of voters. There can be no credible primary or general election without a credible register of voters,” he stated.

The INEC chairman told the Resident Electoral Commissioners that attention is focused mainly on the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), particularly the creation of additional centres to devolve the exercise beyond state and local government offices nationwide. 

According to him, “A total of 2,673 centres were activated nationwide. In doing so, more personnel were trained, additional machines deployed and voter education intensified. The aim is to enable more Nigerians to register as voters.

“Since the CVR exercise resumed on 11th April 2002 for the fourth and final quarter, there is a noticeable increase in the number of new registrants. In the last one week of the exercise, 405,587 eligible Nigerians completed the registration at the various centres which is about 31 per cent increase on the average figure of 125,000 weekly registrations since the exercise commenced in June last year. 

“We expect a surge in new registrations as we approach the deadline of 30th June 2022 and we are prepared for it”, he stated. .

However, he said, “we are concerned about the safety of our personnel and Nigerians who come out to register at the various registration centres. 

“We are also concerned about the security of our equipment and materials, including the printed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) made available for collection by registered voters. Recent incidents involving our staff and facilities are worrisome. 

“You may recall that after a series of consultations with stakeholders (political parties, civil society organisations, the media and security agencies) before the resumption of the exercise in June last year, we agreed on a roll-out and roll-back approach to the CVR exercise depending on the security situation in specific areas.”

The INEC boss said that following the unfortunate incident in Imo State last week, the Commission suspended the CVR exercise in all the 54 additional centres in the state.

The exercise, he said, is now restricted to the state and local government offices except Ihitte Uboma, Njaba and Osu where the exercise has been suspended for the time being.

Similarly, the INEC chairman said that based on the urgency of the situation in Anambra State, the CVR has been suspended in all the 42 additional centres and confined to the state and local government offices except Nnewi South and Ogbaru LGAs where the exercise has also been temporarily suspended. 

He stressed that in Kaduna State the exercise has been suspended in Jema’a and Kaura as well large areas of Birnin Gwari and Giwa on account of insecurity in the four LGAs. 

In addition, he said that “two of our staff were abducted by bandits but later released in Isa LGA of Sokoto State while on voter registration duty. The Commission will keep monitoring and reviewing the situation nationwide, always bearing in mind the imperative of protecting the safety and security of our staff and registrants.”

According to Yakubu, “Despite the security challenges, we must remain resolute in our determination to conduct the 2023 general election as scheduled. In doing so, every eligible Nigerian must be given the opportunity to vote, including citizens in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. Happily, the Commission has a standing policy on IDP voting which has been periodically reviewed. 

“In the light of the security challenges around the country and guided by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the Commission will immediately review the policy to ensure that no internally displaced Nigerian in any part of the country is disenfranchised. The issue of IDPs is one of the issues to be discussed at this meeting.”

Yakubu said that “the Commission is confident that our security agencies have the capacity to deal with the security challenges ahead of 2023 general election. 

“Fortunately, we have started the preparations for the election early. There is therefore ample time to deal with the current situation to enable the Commission and all stakeholders to deploy nationwide for the election. 

“We will continue to work with the security agencies for a peaceful electioneering and conduct of elections. 

“To this end, the Commission will hold high-level meetings with the security agencies and consultations with stakeholders immediately after the forthcoming national holidays,” he said. 

Yakubu told the resident commissioners that since it was their first meeting since the coming into force of the Electoral Act 2022, “I urge you to thoroughly study the new law.

“A credible election is anchored on the law. As you are aware, the Electoral Act, together with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and our Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, constitute the electoral legal framework for elections. As election managers, it is incumbent upon us to familiarise ourselves with the legal framework,” he emphasised.