INEC empowers presiding officers cancel flawed polls

An official of the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) carries filled up ballot boxes at a voting centre in the Ketu district of Lagos, on April 2, 2011.  Nigerian officials have decided to postpone today’s parliamentary elections in the capital Abuja because of organisational problems, an electoral commission spokesman said.

File photo of an INEC official on voting day

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Rivers State, Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak, said on Thursday that Presiding Officers now have the power to cancel elections if voting materials arrived at polling units late.

Ikoiwak made this known on the sideline of a quiz competition for selected secondary schools in Port Harcourt.

Ikoiwak said INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had put mechanisms in place to ensure that general elections in 2015 were better than other elections conducted in the country.

He said INEC was now focused on ending the snatching of ballot boxes at polling stations and other election malpractices.

File photo of an INEC official on voting day
File photo of an INEC official on voting day

“The commission has taken a decision by giving Presiding Officers of polling units the power to cancel election if materials are not there at the time of their arrival. I have told youths that it is now irrelevant to snatch ballot boxes because any form of malpractice and complicity at polling centres will result in cancellation.

“We cancelled over 300 units in the recent Anambra governorship election because people snatched ballot materials from the polling units.

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“When election is shown to belong to voters; political aspirants will not see the need to rely on godfathers or hire thugs because these people will no longer make the aspirants win election.

“This zero tolerance policy by INEC will ensure that whosoever takes the materials to their homes to thumb print should also have in mind that we will not accept them”, he said.

Ikoiwak said INEC was now focused on institutionalising democracy to enable the people to elect their true representatives.

On the quiz competition, he said it was aimed at inculcating democratic processes and principles in students to enable to them become better leaders in the years to come.

He said the exercise was designed to sensitise the youths on the functions of INEC with a view to imbibing correct perceptions about election procedures.

“The competition is running in the six geo -political zones. It will be extended to cover the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory”, he said. (NAN)

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