INEC To Respect Only Properly Constituted Court Orders

By Akinwale Kasali

The Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it will only obey orders from  properly-constituted courts, assuring that it was monitoring the cases arising from the administration of political parties, conduct of primaries, and nomination of candidates.

The electoral body also said pre-elections litigations and conflicting court orders will harm the electoral process, which it said “are complex and involve extensive and careful planning.”

INEC made these revelations in a statement, on Tuesday, by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.

It said the Commission met on Tuesday and deliberated on a range of issues, including the ongoing conduct of party primaries relating to Edo governorship election slated for September 19, the court orders emanating from the administration of political parties and conduct of the primaries, as well as the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Officials on Electoral Duty.

INEC said: “The Commission is closely monitoring the cases arising from the administration of political parties, the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates.

“This notwithstanding, the Commission restates its avowed commitment to continue to obey all orders and judgements from properly-constituted courts in accordance with the rule of law.”

Besides obeying court orders, it added that INEC also considered the report from the meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, which recently approved a Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Officials on Electoral Duty, signed by the Chairman of INEC, the National Security Adviser, NSA, as Co-Chairman of ICCES, and the Inspector-General of Police as head of the lead agency in election security.

The statement read: “The Commission notes that the conduct of party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising therefrom, will end on Saturday, June 27, while the submission of the list of candidates the parties propose to sponsor at the election and affidavits of validly-nominated candidates will close at 6p.m., on Monday, June 29.

“In view of this and as part of its commitment to deepen the use of technology in elections, the Commission will conduct a training programme for Liaison Officers nominated by all the registered political parties on the use of the INEC portal for uploading nomination forms of candidates.

“Political parties should note that the organisation and scheduling of various activities and processes leading to the conduct of elections are complex and involve extensive and careful planning, and any disruption of these processes comes at a huge cost to the nation.

“The spate and tenor of pre-election litigations and the conflicting orders emanating therefrom can harm the smooth conduct of primaries and the upcoming elections.”