*Appeals for patience
- Only eight political parties won NASS seats
BY EZEOCHA NZEH
Following it’s shortcomings and cristian that characterized the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has appealed for calm and patience from Nigerians promising that it will make amends with the March 11 governorship election Nationals n 28 states of the federation
This as the commission’ has also disclosed that only eight out if the 18 registered political parties that contested the presidential and National Assembly polls were able to secure a seat
Chairman of the of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing the state Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) at the weekend in Abuja, ahead in f the March 11 polls, warned that the commission will not tolerate an action that could lead to a repeat of the federation nvidents of the last presidential and National Assembly elections, adding that the commission has learnt it’s lessons and would be ready to make amends
Yakubu said, “No doubt, last week’s national elections raised a number of issues that require immediate, medium, and long-term solutions. The planning for the election was painstakingly done. However, its implementation came with challenges, some of them unforeseen. The issues of logistics, election technology, behaviour of some election personnel at different levels, attitude of some party agents and supporters added to the extremely challenging environment in which elections are usually held in Nigeria.”
He appreciated what he described as the sacrifice and doggedness of Nigerians and the dignity and maturity displayed by political leaders even in the context of divergent views about the election.
” A lot of lessons have been learnt. Of immediate concern to the Commission is how the identified challenges can be addressed as we approach the concluding phase of the General Election involving the largest number of constituencies i.e. 28 State Governorship elections and 993 State Houses of Assembly seats.
“In last Saturday’s elections, winners have also been declared for 423 national legislative seats while supplementary elections will be held in 46 constituencies. In the Senate, 98 out of 109 seats have been declared. So far, seven political parties have won senatorial seats while in the House of Representatives, 325 out of 360 seats have been won by eight political parties.
In terms of party representation, this is the most diverse national assembly since 1999 as can be seen from the tabular summary below:”
The INEC chairman noted that only eight political parties were able to win national assembly seats at the February 25 polls, with the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) retaining majority with 57 senate seats and 162 at the House of Representatives
Accordingly to INEC, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had 29 senate seats and 102 in the House of Representatives, while the Labour Party has six in senate and 34 in the House of Representatives
While the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) secured two senate and 18 House of Representatives seats, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won two seats each for senate and House of Representatives
Professor Yakubu further disclosed that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) won one senate seat each, while the APGA secured four House of Representatives seats as against YPP’s one, just as the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) managed two Houses for Representatives seats
“Certificates of Return will be presented to Senators-elect on Tuesday 7th March 2023 at 11.00am at the National Collation Centre (the International Conference Centre), Abuja, while Members of the House of Representatives-elect will receive theirs the following day, Wednesday 8th March 2023, at 11.00am at the same venue. However, for effective crowd management, each Senator/Member-elect should be accompanied by a maximum of two guests. The comprehensive list of all members-elect will be uploaded to the Commission’s website shortly.
“As we approach the Governorship and State Assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians. All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections. RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.
“Election Day logistics must be finalised days before the election and handled by the Electoral Officers (EOs) at Local Government level. This has been our standard practice. Centralising the process as was done in some States resulted in delayed deployment of personnel and materials and late commencement of polls. RECs will be held responsible for any tardy arrangement or the failure to deploy electric power generators to collation centres or polling units where such facilities are needed. The Commission has enough facilities in all the States of the Federation. Failure to deploy them is simply inexcusable.
“On Election Day technology, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will once again be deployed for voter accreditation and result management. The deployment of BVAS has gone a long way to sanitise voter accreditation as can be seen from the result of recent elections. Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally.
He noted that the commission has received complains and petitions from political parties, and candidates arrising from last week’s election, and promised that “Where infractions of any kind are proven, there will be redress. I must add that any action taken by the Commission is without prejudice to the rights of parties and candidates to seek further remedy as provided by law.”
The INEC chairman therefore warned the RECs to take the March 11 governorship election very seriously as the commission will not hesitate to take action against any officer that would be found wanting in the exercise
