‘No election season in Nigeria any longer,’ declares INEC National

• Tasks security agencies on election safety

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has declared that there is no election season in Nigeria any longer.

This is as the INEC Chairman tasked members of the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure security for the forthcoming bye-elections slated for

Saturday 3rd February this year.

Yakubu said these on Monday in his remarks at a meeting of ICCES held at the commission’s conference room in Abuja.

Justifying his declaration that there

is no election season in Nigeria any longer, the INEC Chairman pointed out that elections are held throughout the year between one general election and another.

According to Yakubu, “What many people do not realize is that there is no election season in Nigeria any longer.

“Elections are held throughout the year between one general election and another.

“This adds to the enormous pressure on both INEC and the security agencies.

“For instance, in addition to the bye-elections and re-run elections holding next week, the Commission has also released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the two off-cycle Governorship elections in Edo State scheduled for 21st September 2024 and Ondo State holding on 16th November 2024.

“As required by the Electoral Act 2022, party primaries and nomination of candidates shall be done not later than 180 days before the date fixed for the elections.

“Accordingly, party primaries for Edo State will commence next week and end three weeks later (i.e. 1st- 24th February 2024).

“For Ondo State, primaries will be held between 6th and 27th April 2024. Our collective experience as election managers and security agencies shows that party primaries can sometimes be more acrimonious than general elections.

“Therefore, as we prepare for the bye-elections and re-run elections, we should equally be prepared for the two major elections later in this year in Edo and Ondo States.”, he said.

The INEC Chairman told the members of ICCES that their task is to ensure security for the elections.

In his words, “For this reason, the Commission has already provided to the Nigeria Police Force, as the lead agency in election security, the full information of the locations where the elections will be held broken down by States, Local Government Areas, Registration Areas/Wards and Polling Units.

“We have similarly provided the number of registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected in each Polling Unit.

“The same information will be shared at this meeting with other members of ICCES.

“The updated information will be also be uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms for public information immediately after this meeting”, he assured.

The forthcoming bye-elections, according to the INEC Chairman, are two categories.

First are the bye-elections arising from the death or resignation of members of the National and State legislative houses affecting two Senatorial Districts, four Federal and three State Assembly Constituencies.

The second category is the re-run elections by order of Election Petition Appeal Tribunals.