Offenders Pressurise INEC to Dump List •As Jega Appears in Court On Monday

Posted by admin Elections 2011, INEC Politics Friday, March 4th, 2011

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come under pressure not to publish the list of names of influential politicians who were involved in multiple registration during the voter registration exercise held in the country recently.

Investigation by Saturday Tribune revealed that notable politicians, who knew their culpability in the multiple registration saga could mar their electoral prospect, are said to be lobbying and urging INEC to jettison the list under the pretence that it could jeopardise the successful conduct of the April elections.

But this is just as the INEC is facing another pressure from pro-democracy groups to publish the said names. The pro-democracy groups may have found willing allies in some INEC commissioners who favour the publication of the high-profile list of offenders.

This is also coming as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 4 subpoenaed the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, to appear before it on Monday on dates of elections which had remained in contention since INEC released a modified election timetable for the April polls.

There have been litigations in different courts in the Federal Capital Territory on the dates of elections, as petitioners had argued that the initial election time-table released by the commission last year was the most lawful, having complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Indication that the April poll elections may face critical moments emerged on Thursday when another court in Abuja outlawed the order of elections adopted by INEC for the April elections as suggested by the National Assembly.

Ruling on the order of elections, the court said the National Assembly had no power to give the order, as it threw back the authority to do so to INEC, thus implying that the existing order of elections has amounted to a nullity.

Saturday Tribune has confirmed that INEC had received the court summons for the chairman to appear before it, just as one of the officials disclosed that Professor Jega would honour the court summon.

In releasing timetable for the 2011 general elections, INEC had initially scheduled the National Assembly election for January 15, to be followed by the presidential election on January 22, while it scheduled the gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections for January 29.

The apex electoral body had had cause to alter the dates of the general elections while it adopted the same order of elections suggested by the National Assembly in which case, it approved the National Assembly election for April 2, presidential election April 9 and gubernatorial /state Houses of Assembly April 16.

However, indications are rife that a meeting of top officials of INEC may hold next week to decide whether or not to publish the names of those alleged to have registered more than once, since the INEC boss, Jega, is said to be the only authority who could give the approval for the names to be published.

During his last appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on INEC headed by Honourable Sani Sarki Adar, Jega disclosed that more than 500 eligible voters were involved in multiple registrations for the April polls as detected by the Direct Data Capture (DDC) it used for the registration exercise.

INEC officials, who wanted the names of offenders published, according to investigations harped their reasons on the need to make the commission assume a no-nonsense image, such that the publication, if effected, would make the political players have more respect for it.

It was learnt, however, that the political implication of possible publication of the names was the reason INEC initially refrained from publishing the names of those who registered more than once, given the calibre of individuals involved.

-Tribunewp_posts