…As Atiku Abubakar declares intention to run for president in 2019***
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended 205 staff over various unwholesome roles in the 2015 general elections.
INEC’s Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this in his keynote address at national colloquium organised by the Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that the interdiction, recommended by INEC’s Appointments, Promotion and Discipline Committee (APDC), was the highest so far.
Mr. Mahmud said that constructive criticisms from the public had helped the commission to get better in delivering its mandate vis-a-vis conducting credible elections.
He said that commission’s electoral officers were already in the field working towards the success of the 2019 elections.
“We have to put the right people in place as electoral officers and assistant electoral officers for the 2019 general elections.
“The credibility of an election depends on the credibility of the election manager; the credulity of the election manger depends on the credibility of the staff.
“The APDC recommended the interdiction of 205 staff found culpable in various roles they played arising from the 2015 general elections—this is the highest number of interdictions since the history of the commission.
“We have within the some of the most patriotic staff in the country; but anybody found wanting will be dealt with accordingly.’’
He said that the introduction of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) had increased voter registration.
The INEC boss listed the top states in CVR as Rivers, Anambra, Borno, Delta, Lagos, Cross-River, Osun, Enugu, Kano and Plateau.
Mr Mahmud said the commission had conducted elections in 179 constituencies so far, adding that of only five had been challenged in court which attested to the credibility of the elections.
He said that at present, INEC had received over 100 additional applications for new political parties, while nine had met the criteria.
“We may end up having up to 80 political parties for the 2019 general elections,’’ he said.
The INEC chairman gave an assurance that the 2019 elections would be better than that of 2015.
Earlier in his speech, Chima Amadi, the Executive Director, ISDMG, said that INEC had been the most responsive of all government agencies involved in the election value chain.
He said that INEC had been taking advice and constructive criticisms and adjusting its activities to reflect same while such could not be said about others within the chain.
“The security agencies continue to behave true to type and are even getting worse, while political gladiators horn their manipulative stock-in-trade.
“However, we are resolved to take them to task with the same resilience that we used in getting INEC to act properly.
“For the 2019 elections, the ISDMG will be deploying cutting edge technology to the field to ensure that history is properly documented,’’ he said.
The highlight of the event was the unveiling of a book/report titled: “INEC Beyond 2015, Overview, Challenges and Prospects.’’
The report was written by Mr Amadi, Faith Nwadishi, MacDonald Ekemezie, Abdul Mahmud, James Ugochukwu and Atambi Ade.
Meanwhile, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has officially declared his intention to run for president in 2019 on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Mr Abubakar announced his candidacy in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday, four months after dumping the All Progressives Congress.
The former Vice President said his decision to make the announcement in Rivers State because is because he believes Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike represents what he represented in 1998/99 as the live wire of the PDP.
Mr Abubakar was in Rivers with the former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel; Senator Abdul Ningi and some other party leaders.
Governor Wike, in reaction, described the former VP as a presidential candidate feared by the APC.
The governor, however, played down his own position in the PDP, insisting that all genuine members of the party are its live wire.
Three years and several legal battles after, the PDP was ousted from power at the federal level, its leaders believe it has what it takes to reclaim power in 2019.
According to Governor Wike, the PDP is not just interested in seizing power in 2019, it is out to rescue Nigeria from what he described as a period of maladministration.
The Governor called on other aspirants of the party to do nothing to jeopardise its chances in the 2019 general elections.
Mr Abubakar, who contested against President Muhammadu Buhari for the APC presidential ticket for the 2015 general elections, resigned from the APC in November 2017.
In his resignation letter, he accused the APC of embracing unconstitutionality and of failing to keep its promises to Nigeria.
On December 3, 2017, he announced his return to the PDP.
Following his return to the party, he participated in its national convention at which Uche Secondus was elected National Chairman of the party.
He has also held meetings with key figures in the PDP. In January, he visited Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose with whom he said he had a good relationship.
Premium with additional report from Citizen
