Ahead of the November 16 governorship elections in
Kogi and Bayelsa States, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday warned all political parties participating in the two-state elections
that the September 9 date for the submission of the governorship candidates
remains sacrosanct.
The warning may not be unconnected to what happened
in Zamfara and Rivers States where INEC rejected the governorship primaries of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the congresses were not conducted in
line with laid down processes.
In a bulletin obtained from INEC headquarters by
journalists titled: ‘Conduct of Primaries for Nomination of Candidates for Bayelsa
and Kogi States Governorship Elections’, INEC stated clearly that "end
date for the submission of lists of candidates and their personal particulars
(INEC Forms CF001and CF002) remains September 9, 2019.
The bulletin further stated that all the political
parties contesting in the November 16 governorship elections in the two states
have concluded their primary elections by September 5 with all resolutions or
disputes associated with the primaries settled.
The Commission further warned that all political
parties contesting in the elections “are enjoined to ensure compliance with
these timelines as no extension or late submissions will be entertained."
Also, INEC stated that the total number of
uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for Kogi State stands at 170,644 while
that of Bayelsa State stands at 49, 291.
In the same bulletin, INEC said it has commenced
the distribution of PVCs on September 2, 2019, and that the exercise would last
till the end of September.
The Commission said the distribution would commence
between 9.00a.m to 3.00 p.m. (Monday to Friday).
INEC further said the Resident Electoral
Commissioners (RECs) of the two states would
provide contacts and telephone numbers where registered voters who have not
collected their PVCs can call and make inquiries relating to the collection.
To facilitate easy collections of the voters’
cards, the Commission will send bulk text message to the registered voters in
the two states that are yet to collect their PVCs, and will also display the
list of registered voters that are yet to collect their PVCs at the respective state
and local government offices of the Commission and at other designated public
places
Meanwhile, the Commission said the results of
the gubernatorial election would be
transmitted manually.
Reacting to question from THISDAY, the Chief Press Secretary
to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyakanmi, said the law mandates the Commission to
operate a manual transmission of election results.
According to him, "The 1999 Constitution (as
amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) do not recognise electronic transmission
of results. The Commission will follow the prescription of the law," which
he said was to be transmitted manually in line with the extant laws guiding
elections in Nigeria.
It was gathered also that INEC spoke out to avoid
the controversy surrounding the results of presidential election where the PDP
and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, claims that the results
were transmitted electronically.
Meanwhile, the PDP gubernatorial appeal committee
headed by the National Chairman, Prince
Uche Secondus, yesterday commenced the hearing of the appeals filed by Senator Dino
Melaye and Abubakar Ibrahim against the election of Musa Wada as the party's
governorship candidate.
By INEC guidelines, the appeal must be heard and
determined on September 5. The appeal committee as at press time, is hearing
the appeals at the National Working Committee (NWC) hall of the party.
PDP is expected to issue certificate of returns to
the winners of the Kogi and Bayelsa States governorship primary elections after
hearing the appeals. The winners of the
primary elections are Senator Duoye Diri of PDP in Bayelsa State and Musa Wada of
PDP in Kogi State
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