The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed its commitment to conduct the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states as planned amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. INEC met Thursday and deliberated on protocols for the resumption of activities and operations, telling staff above the age of 57 and others with serious underlining illness not resume duty yet.
“Only the staff below 58 years of age with no serious underlying health issues will resume, while pregnant women, nursing mothers and all other staff with underlying health conditions should remain at home for the time being,” the commission said in a statement by the National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Public Information, Mr. Festus Okoye.
This comes as the electoral umpire expressed readiness to resume engagements with political parties, civil society groups, the media and other stakeholders in relation to the polls. Okoye, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, however, said modalities for the engagements would be made public on the 14th of this month. The commission, which said its operations would start on Monday, said it had also discussed preparations for the conduct of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections and other pending legislative bye-elections.
According to Okoye, the commission will also resume engagement with political parties, civil society groups and organisations, the media and other stakeholders in relation to the Edo and Ondo state governorship elections. “The modalities for these engagements will be worked out and considered at its next meeting on May 14, 2020,” the commission stated. Okoye added that the commission will work out modalities for the ramping up of activities in Edo and Ondo States where it has governorship elections and will liaise with the security agencies and health authorities on the resumption of work in the two states as soon as possible.
He said the commission would issue comprehensive guidelines for the first phase of its resumption in compliance with the directives of the federal government and health authorities, adding that these guidelines will be posted on its notice boards and uploaded on the website of the commission on Monday. Other resolutions of the management of INEC included carrying out a comprehensive decontamination of its national headquarters, the annex at Blantyre Street, the Electoral Institute and its Area 10 office housing its staff clinic.
He said the commission would follow the federal government’s guidelines on resumption protocols and procedure by providing infrared thermometers, soap, and water at entrances and installing hand sanitiser dispensers at strategic points in its office. The commission said it would train its staff, particularly the cleaners and office assistants, on cleaning protocols and strict compliance with the federal government’s guidelines as well as its own specific protocols for resumption.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja Thursday reserved judgment on the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the November 16, 2019 election in the state, Mr. Musa Wada. The petitioners are challenging the victory of Governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the poll. The three-man panel of judges headed by Justice Kashim Kaigama reserved judgment in the case after parties adopted their final written addresses yesterday.
Petitioners’ lawyer, Mr. Jibril Okutepa (SAN), in his closing argument, urged the court to uphold the petition and order Wada to be returned as the duly elected Governor of Kogi State. Okutepa, who contended that Wada and his party, won the majority of lawful votes cast in the election, urged the tribunal to reject the objection raised by the respondents in the case.
But the respondents in the petition – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Yahaya Bello, and his party, the APC, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition. The respondents were represented by their lawyers, Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN), Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), and Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN). They noted that that the petitioners disputed the results of the election in 2,548 polling units in seven out of the 21 local government areas of the state, yet they only presented 32 witnesses to prove cases of alleged election malpractices, substantial non-compliance to electoral rules and other forms of irregularities
