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INEC chairman meets Ganduje and political party chairmen ahead of November 11 governorship elections

Published

1 year ago

October 24, 2023

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mahmood Yakubu is currently meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and other chairmen of political parties at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

This crucial gathering is part of INEC’s comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy and is slated ahead of three off-cycle governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo State.

The INEC Chairman is expected to address political party leaders, providing vital insights into the commission’s preparations for the upcoming elections. This includes clarifications on election procedures, security measures, and other pertinent details.

The meeting aims to elucidate the roles and responsibilities of political parties in the electoral process. Officials say INEC is taking this opportunity to establish a collaborative framework to ensure a transparent, free, and fair election.

Furthermore, the gathering will allow political parties to voice their concerns and observations directly to the INEC chairman.

”This feedback mechanism is pivotal in addressing issues and enhancing the credibility of the electoral process,” an INEC official said.

Earlier, INEC had cautioned political parties against spreading fake news, ahead of the Nov.11 Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo governorship elections.

Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman stated this in a statement in Abuja.

Oyekanmi was reacting to a statement by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that INEC was configuring Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines at the Government House, Lokoja, with the intention of manipulating the state governorship election.

“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a statement signed by ID Ijele, the Director of New Media of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of the governorship campaign team.

“The statement alleged that three staff of INEC are right now maliciously reconfiguring the BVAS machines in the Government House, Lokoja, with the intention of manipulating the Nov.11 governorship election in a part of the state in favour of a candidate.

“The story is untrue. The three persons mentioned are not associated with the configuration of the BVAS machines and are not even in Kogi at the moment.

“Nicholas Ocholi is on his duty post in our Ondo State office in Akure.

“Ibrahim Egbunu is attending to a very close family member hospitalised in Abuja, Mohammed Adara retired last year and is no longer a staff of the commission,” Oyekanmi said.

He said that the configuration of BVAS was done simultaneously and exclusively in INEC offices in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi by teams deployed from the national headquarters, Abuja.

“The public is advised to disregard the story as fake news.

“At the same time, the commission appeals to political parties to desist from engaging in malicious rumour-mongering of this nature, “ Oyekanmi said