BREAKING: INEC Shifts Kogi, Bayelsa Governorship Elections to Nov. 16
The electoral umpire, in a statement on Thursday, said the elections will now hold on 16 November, 2019.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may announce a new date for the governorship election in Bayelsa State earlier scheduled for November 2nd, Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has said.
Prof Yakubu made the disclosure while
responding to request made by the governor of Bayelsa Seriake Dickson,
who led religious, traditional and leaders of thought from Bayelsa to
INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The governor who was represented by his
deputy, John Jonah pleaded for a new date for the governorship poll to
allow the state commemorate her November 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Day,
which is also a public holiday in the state.
A new date he said will enable greater turnout of voters turnout.
The state government had earlier written to INEC asking for a shift in the date of the election.
Prof Yakubu while welcoming the delegation
said INEC maintains an open door policy and all stakeholders are free to
request for audience with the Commission on any matter they consider
important for the improvement of our electoral process.
He assured that the commission will make
its decision public this Friday, as he “appeal to all stakeholders in
Bayelsa and Kogi States to ensure that the forthcoming Governorship
elections are devoid of hate speech, intimidation of voters and INEC
officials, vote buying, violence including bombing and arson that led to
the destruction of election materials and INEC facilities in the last
Governorship elections in the two States and other sundry violations of
the law.
“I urge you to appeal to your supporters
to ensure that the creeks and waterways, the hills and forests, urban
and rural areas, the polling units and collation centres are free of
thugs who unleash mayhem that turn a simple democratic process into
needless bloodletting.
While assuring that the Commission is
committed to a free, fair and credible process he promised that INEC
will deploy early on election day as well as adhere to our guidelines
and regulations and ensure a transparent and prompt collation and
declaration of results.
According to him, the commission will soon
commence the prosecution of electoral offenders in the 2019 general
election whose case files have been prepared by the Nigeria Police.
The INEC boss also appealed to all
political parties to ensure the conduct of transparent, credible and
rancour-free primaries for the nomination of candidates.
” From the 2019 general elections, we have
seen how acrimonious party primaries have been, resulting in numerous
litigations and making our preparations for elections difficult.
“We are still grappling with issues arising
from the conduct of party primaries. Pre-election litigations through
the regular courts (the High Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme
Court) have resulted in a number of judgements in favour of petitioners.
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