Tag: Independent National Electoral Commission

2023: One-year jail term, N500, 000 fine awaits vote buyers – INEC 

Aminu Imam

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that one-year imprisonment, or a fine of N500, 000, awaits anyone found guilty of buying votes during the 2023 elections. The INEC Commissioner in Jigawa State, Professor Muhammad Lawal Bashar, who read the Riot Act in an interview with newsmen, said the electoral commission is prepared to conduct all the elections with the BVAS machine to ensure free and fair elections. According to him, the machine will identify voters going to vote, and those who have…

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Politicians trying to manufacture BVAS – INEC official allege

Aminu Imam

The Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Achumie Rex, yesterday, alleged that some politicians were making frantic efforts to manufacture the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, (BVAS) machine and hack into the Commission’s server ahead of the 2023 general election. This was as he reiterated the electoral umpire’s resolve to make the 2023 general election free and fair, adding that there would be simultaneous accreditation and voting on election days. Rex stated this at a two-day workshop for civil society organisations on Voter Education,…

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2023: INEC accuses politicians of buying PVCs, inducing voters

Aminu Imam

Barely 74 days to the anticipated 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has accused some politicians of buying Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and financially inducing voters in order to harvest their Voter Identification Numbers, (VIN). The electoral umpire who made the accusation on Monday, through the Acting Chairman and National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Kaduna and Plateau States, Mohammed Haruna warned the alleged politician to desist or face the full rot of the law. Speaking during the launch of the #YourVoteMatters project by NESSACTION, an election observer…

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2023: lNEC cautions politicians against provocative outbursts during campaigns   

Aminu Imam

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Katsina State has cautioned politicians and political parties to avoid using provocative and abusive words during campaigns in the State. The Head of the Commission’s Election and Party Monitoring (EPM), Abdullahi Ibrahim-Umar, gave the caution at a stakeholder’s forum on Friday in Katsina. According to the INEC official, political campaigns should be conducted in a peaceful, orderly and matured manner. He explained further that Electoral Act 2022 section 92 (1-6) stipulates how political campaigns should be conducted. He said the law provided that…

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2023: “We’ve deployed BVAS to 30 States” – INEC 

Aminu Imam

…Says its usage non-negotiable for polls  National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, has said the bimodal voter automated system (BVAS) has been deployed to 30 states ahead of the upcoming elections. Okoye spoke on Thursday during a workshop on election reporting organised by the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNFJ). BVAS is a device introduced by INEC for the accreditation of voters through biometrics capturing, uploading of polling results and other functions. The device has been described by stakeholders as a…

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2023: “Ignore those harvesting last 3 digits of PVCs, they can’t beat the BVAS” – INEC

Aminu Imam

Shocks may be awaiting those going round some States collecting the last three digits of peoples’ Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs. This is because their suspected plan to use the details to sabotage voting or use the digits to access the PVCs and gain more votes would not work. This disclosure was made in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Rivers State’s Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Mark Usulor. Usulor spoke at Day One of a three-day voter education conference series by WhillzTrust…

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2023: “Arsonists account details from holding elections” – INEC Chairman

Aminu Imam

…Says Commission will reprint burnt PVCs in 2 days The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says the arsonists attacking the commission’s facilities nationwide cannot stop the forthcoming 2023 elections. The INEC boss, who said this yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during an on-the-spot assessment of the burnt office in Abeokuta-South by suspected arsonists, described the arsonists as “undemocratic and retrogressive elements.” Recall that arsonists had on November 10 razed down the Commission’s office at Iyana Mortuary, Abeokuta South Local Government Area, and…

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2023 Elections: “Our allegiance, loyalty is to Nigerians” — INEC

Aminu Imam

As part of its preparation for the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that its allegiance and loyalists are to Nigerians. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu gave this assurance at the opening of a two-day induction retreat for the commission’s Administrative Secretaries in Lagos. The electoral body also warned its staff against compromise. In his opening remarks, Yakubu, who was represented by the INEC National Commissioner, Election and Party Monitoring Committee, Sam Olumekun, said that the retreat was part of the preparation of INEC…

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2023: INEC lists guidelines for conduct of political rallies

Aminu Imam

…Demands 10 days notice; warns parties, donors on donations exceeding ?50m Ahead of the 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has published guidelines for the conduct of political rallies and campaigns as well as election expenses of parties, candidates and aspirants. According to the guidelines for rallies and campaigns, in an issued statement released yesterday by the Commission, political parties “must issue in writing a notice to the Commissioner of Police of the State or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) indicating the exact venue and time of…

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2023: “No going back on uploading of results on INEC portal” – Chairman 

Aminu Imam

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the Commission is not going back on its decision to upload the results of the 2023 general elections on its portal. Yakubu stated this at the National Stakeholders Forum on the 2023 general elections, organised by the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room. According to the INEC chairman, uploading results to the portal would enable Nigerians to have a real-time view of the results as they are being collated. He said the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation…

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