INEC: Partisan, Convicted Lecturers Won’t Be Accepted as Returning, Collation Officers

*Engages 23,258 personnel as collation, returning officers 

*Says 300 pre-election cases before Appeal Court, 155 before Supreme court 

*We’re not supporting any candidate

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that it would not accept the nomination of university lecturers who are card carrying members or had participated in partisan politics or convicted of electoral malpractice as Returning and State Collation Officers in the forthcoming polls.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this known yesterday, in Abuja, at a meeting with Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.
He said without the involvement of the tertiary institutions, especially the universities, the Commission would find it extremely difficult to conduct credible elections

The chairman noted that at the polling unit level, the critical segment of election duty staff was drawn from products of universities and polytechnics involved in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
Yakubu, stressed that for the various collation and declaration centres, the Commission draws the required Collation and Returning Officers from the academic staff of the universities, including the Vice Chancellors who serve as Returning Officers for Governorship election and State Collation Officers for Presidential election.

He added that despite few challenges, the partnership further enhanced the transparency and credibility of the elections in Nigeria as well as public confidence in the process.
Yakubu pointed out that the 2023 general election would hold in 1,491 constituencies nationwide involving the presidential, 28 Governorship, 190 Senatorial, 360 Federal and 993 State Constituencies.  
He said the general election would involve the highest number of registered voters in the history of democratic elections in Nigeria, as the final register of voters now stands at 93,469,008.

The chairman added that the commission’s final list also indicated that a total of 15,333 candidates have been nominated by the 18 political parties for the election.
He explained further that collation of results would take place in 8,809 Registration Areas or Wards, 774 Local Government Areas,  36 States and the FCT.
Yakubu said the commission requires Returning Officers for each constituency.
According to him, “put together, we will engage 23,258 personnel as Collation and Returning Officers. It is for this reason that this meeting is of crucial. We need the support of our universities to source the requisite number of suitably academic staff of impeccable integrity who must also understand that this is a call to national service.”

The Chairman said as in previous elections, the commission had requested each university for a specified number and category of academic staff as contained in his letter to the Vice Chancellors.
He stated: “I must warn that staff who are card carrying members or have participated in partisan politics should not be nominated.
“Similarly, those who may not be involved in partisan politics but are known to have obvious political leanings should not be nominated.”
Furthermore, those who have been convicted of electoral malpractice must be excluded, he said.

“The Commission will carefully scrutinise the list which must be submitted confidentially in the manner prescribed by Commission in my letter to the Vice Chancellors. Like all election duty personnel, each Collation and Returning Officer will swear to an oath of neutrality.”
During a meeting between INEC and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) exco, Yakubu said political parties have conducted primaries and submitted names of candidates to the commission, adding that some of the cases have gone to the Federal High Court, while some are before the Appeal Court and before the Supreme Court.

According to him, on pre-election litigations alone, INEC has been joined in1,241 cases. These were not elections conducted by INEC but each time they (aspirants) go to court, they join the commission. Out of these cases, over 300 are before the Court of Appeal and 155 before the Supreme Court as of Monday last week.
“What is good about the NBA is that at the end, it submits reports to INEC at the end of the election. Don’t underestimate the reports you file because they assist us in proposing reforms to the National Assembly each time there is an opportunity. So, we don’t accredit observer groups just for the fun of it,” the chairman said.
Responding, NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau said free and fair elections could only be achieved if the people would be allowed to make their own choice of leaders and have confidence in the electoral body saddled with the responsibility of conducting the elections.
He said with the good work Yakubu has done in the commission, he has earned the confidence of Nigerians as an umpire properly positioned to deliver a free, fair and credible election.
Maikyau stated: “If the process of the election has any question mark, or the person saddled with the responsibility cannot be trusted, it will mar the outcome of the exercise.
“The NBA is solidly behind you. We will not allow anything that will deray your assignment or threaten your independence. If there is anything or anyone that threatens your independence, call on us and and we will be there to assist you.
“When one state chapter endorsed a particular candidate, we said that the NBA will not observe elections in that state. The NBA is not a political party and does not support any candidate. We support the Nigerian people. NBA will not leave a trace of wrong perception during the election.”