The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would henceforth sanction any political party in Nigeria that fails to adhere strictly to the section of the Electoral Act that prescribes 90 days before embarking on campaign, Chairman of the Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, has said.
Speaking at a meeting with the chairmen and secretaries of the 26 registered political parties in Nigeria at the INEC headquarters, Jega said though he was not happy with the way the candidates flouted election regulations, he was comfortable with how the INEC officials carried out their activities throughout the period.
Basking in the euphoria of an acclaimed successful conduct of the governorship election in Ekiti State last Saturday, Jega promised that the same success would be replicated in Osun during the governorship election that would hold on August 17 as well as the general elections in 2015.
“From the INEC staff, to the young men and women of the NYSC and other tertiary institutions, to the security agencies, political parties, civil society organisations and the candidates and host of other stakeholders, everyone put together their best and our collective best turned out to be good enough in Ekiti.
“That is how it should be and it is a very good lesson for our future elections. The successful conduct of a free, fair and peaceful election in Ekiti is a good omen for the subsequent elections to come, and indeed for the satisfaction of the aspiration of Nigerians for a consolidated democracy,” Jega said.
“We must therefore not rest on our oars, but continue to do our best collectively to sustain and keep on improving on this achievement. The coming election in Osun state, God willing should on the count be better, and the 2015 general elections must be the best,” he said adding that it was therefore a challenge for all stakeholders to continue to work together to ensure such necessary outcome.”
The meeting with the parties was aimed to harmonise and approve the guidelines for the commencement of the election campaign by candidates and conduct of election primaries by political parties ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Tanko Yinusa, while congratulating Jega over the success recorded in the Ekiti governorship election, said the Council had forwarded a 13-point agenda to INEC for consideration.
Yinusa, the national chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP) said part of the 13-point agenda was to ensure the survival of political parties, registration and deregistration as well as their funding.
