INEC DIRECTORS CHARGED TO OWN INNOVATIVE PROCESSES

Directors and Deputy Directors of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have been charged to learn, understand, contribute and own innovations being introduced to the electoral process even as the Commission geared for the 2019 general elections.

National Commissioner, Dr. Mohammed Mustapha Lecky, made the call while speaking at the opening of a two-day presentation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Projects to Directors and Deputy Directors at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.

He explained that the 2015 amendment to the Electoral Act had given the Commission significant room to introduce and deploy more Technology in the electoral process that would consolidate on the gains of introducing ICT in the 2015 general elections by enhancing the performance and efficiency of the process.

Adding credence to the important role of technology in the electoral process, Dr. Lecky said: “There is no gainsaying the fact that the 2015 elections had been adjudged the best in the history of our country and this can be credited to the introduction of technology in the conduct of elections particularly the Permanent Voter Cards and the Smart Card reader which transformed the election landscape in Nigeria for which a lot of accolades were received by Nigeria worldwide”.

He stressed that the 2019 general elections were not far away as so many thought, adding that the presentation of ICT Projects was “clearly an opportunity to see what is being done, discuss how it can be enhanced and to own the processes”.

Some of the Projects presented at the workshop include:  Voter Registration Transfer Portal; Voter Verification Portal; Integrated Voter Register Portal; Integrated e-Collation and e-TRAC system; e-Based PVC Collection Directional Portal; PVC Distribution System and Intranet/Share Point.

EDO: INEC TO PUBLISH OFFICIAL REGISTER OF VOTERS, LIST OF NOMINATED CANDIDATES ON AUGUST 11TH

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will on Thursday 11th August 2016, publish and present the official register of voters for the Edo governorship election scheduled for Saturday, September 10 2016. The Commission will also publish the list of nominated candidates by political parties on the same day.

Section 20 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), provides that the Register of Voters for an election shall be issued not less than thirty days before such an election. Also, Section 34 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides that the list of nominated candidates shall be published not less than thirty days before an election.

For the Ondo governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 26, 2016, the Commission would on the 26th of August 2016, publish the Notice of Election, while commencement of campaigns by Political Parties will commence on the 28th of August 2016 which is exactly 90 days to the election, as stipulated by Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

In the meantime, the Commission intends to distribute Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), arising from the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise conducted in Edo state from the 22nd to 26th June 2016, two weeks to the governorship election. No dates have however been scheduled for the distribution.