PDP wins bye-election in Lagos

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Ikorodu Constituency II Bye-election, Olugbenga Akinwale Oshin, won the election with a total vote of 3,438, which was 416 votes higher than the total vote of the Action Congress of Nigeria's candidate, Olusayo David Alagbe.

The constituency sit became vacant on November 2 when the occupier, ACN's Rotimi Sotomiwa died. The Independent National Electoral Commission's returning officer, Kenneth Obianyi, after collating all the votes announced Mr. Oshin, whose occupation is farming, as the winner.

"Having scored the highest votes, I hereby declare Olugbenga Akinwale Oshin as the winner of the bye-election of Ikorodu Constituency II," Mr. Obianyi said, after reeling out the total votes polled by each of the 14 candidates in the election.

New wave

The PDP supporters, on hearing the result, went into jubilation, especially because it was not certain who would emerge the winner of the election.

When counting started around 3pm, the results announced from Igbogbo wards tipped ACN's candidate slightly ahead of other contestants and jubilation started from their camp. However, results from Imota, Ibeshe, and Ijede drained every hope in the ACN's camp and jubilation shifted to the PDP camp. More results had the two camps using calculators and making frantic calls.

The ACN supporters who then knew they had lost hardly bothered to return to the INEC's office to hear the official result.

Free, fair, but...

The election was peaceful in almost all the polling units. Only one case of ballot box snatching was reported in Ginti Village and the result was cancelled.

However, at Methodist Primary School and Adeboruwa Bus Stop units which NEXT monitored, voters were induced with money by supporters allegedly working for the PDP's candidate. Voters who spoke to NEXT on the condition of anonymity said each vote cast earned them N1,000.

At about 1.20pm ACN supporters alerted the security agencies that a woman, identified as Mrs. Ogunmuyiwa, had several voters card on her. A search by the security personnel revealed two voters' card, one of which the alleged said belonged to her tenant.

Mr Ogunmuyiwa was let go after voting has closed and ACN's lawmaker, representing Ikorodu I, Sanai Agunbiade, refused to make a case out of it.

Ikorodu's salvation

Kazeem Adeagbo, a PDP supporter who spoke to NEXT after the announcement of the result, said the victory signals "Ikorodu's salvation."

"ACN is not popular in Ikorodu. They have no structure here and all they do is make noise. Now, we are beginning to save ourselves and the salvation will be completed in the next general election," he said.

Another supporter, who identified himself as Johnson, said, "Now Goodluck [Jonathan] will know that PDP is still very strong in Lagos."

"We are surprised," said Femi Maribade, an ACN's supporter, who attributed his party's loss to "over confidence." "Up till about four days ago, there was no noise from the PDP camp and we thought we will win easily," he said.

Source: 234next.com

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Votes to be counted manually in Cote d'Ivoire's presidential elections

Photo taken on Oct. 21, 2010 shows placards publicizing presidential candidates in Abidjan, Cote Divoire. Cote Divoire will held presidential election on Oct. 31. 
Counting of votes for Cote d'Ivoire's presidential elections scheduled for Oct. 31 will be done manually, according to the West African country's Independent Electoral Commission (CEI).

"Any other technological means has been rejected and therefore CEI will just count votes manually," CEI spokesman Bamba Yacouba said here on Thursday.

Bamba said the CEI president will announce the election outcome after the "physical delivery" of results to Abidjan from polling stations by supervisors designated to various regions across the country.

The United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) on Thursday asked CEI to put in place appropriate measures to ensure that results are handled with integrity and released transparently.

The electoral map has 10,179 polling stations across the country. Over 5.7 million people are expected to vote during this historic election.

The law gives CEI three days to declare provisional results before they are validated by the Constitutional Council.

Source: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90855/7174700.html  Read more...

Brazil set to hold presidential runoff election

Brazil's ruling Workers' Party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff poses for a photo after casting her vote at a polling station in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, Oct. 3, 2010.
A presidential runoff is inevitable for Brazil as no candidate clinched an absolute majority in the first round of voting, the country's highest court said Sunday night.

Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian ruling party's candidate, grabbed more than 45 percent of the votes, but still fell short of the 50 percent plus one votes required to avoid a runoff with her second-placed rival Jose Serra on Oct. 31.

Source::http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7157229.html  Read more...

INEC seeks postponement of elections to April

L–R: Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Atahiru Jega; INEC Commissioner in charge of Information, Mr. Solomon Soyebi; and Chairman, Political Parties Monitoring Committee, Mrs. Amina Zakari, at the INEC consultative meeting with leaders of registered political parties, in Abuja... on Tuesday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Tuesday called for the postponement of the 2011 general elections from January to April to enable it to “do a grade A job.”

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, made the request while fielding questions from the 63 political party leaders in Abuja.

He said that the reality on the ground was that the commission had missed several of its timelines that were crucial to the registration of voters as well as the recruitment and training of ad-hoc staff for the elections.

The commission is also yet to award contracts for the purchase of Direct Data Capture Machines to be used in the registration of voters.

Jega added that from his interaction with the party leaders, it was evident that the consensus was that time was a major constraint.

The commission’s desire for an extension of time first came to the fore after its retreat in Calabar, Cross River State, on Sunday. It had in a statement after the retreat, called for an extension of time.

Jega said, “If you take into consideration the timelines that we have missed, we will not require less than at least an additional two months which will take us to March but we will prefer an extension up to April.

“This will give us enough time to do an excellent job. If you want us to do a grade A job, give us up till April.”

Earlier in his welcome address, Jega said that INEC was in a dilemma over the timelines for the voter registration and the 2011 general elections.

The INEC chairman said, “We fully understand the position within the relevant arms of government that INEC is in the best position to indicate if it needs more time to carry out its constitutional roles effectively.

“Certainly, he who wears the shoe should know exactly where it pinches and what is worth doing is, indeed, worth doing well.

“The foregoing aptly captures the dilemma that the commission has been grappling with in the past few weeks namely, that while it is true that we require more time, we must consistently act within the law and also insulate the commission from the partisan politics that is bound to trail any demand for time extension.”

He assured Nigerians that the postponement of the voter registration and the general elections, would not affect the May 29, 2011 inauguration of a new President.

Based on the timetable released by INEC, political parties are to conduct their primaries from September 11 to October 30, 2010.

The registration of voters will take place between November 1 and 14 while the first set of elections will take place on January 14, 2011.

Jega said that INEC was on the verge of signing contracts for the procurement of the DDC machines for the registration exercise.

He said, “The fact that we have time constraints does not mean that the tasks at hand are impossible to accomplish within the existing timeframe. Instead, what it means is that there is a very limited margin to make modifications to the timelines, particularly for critical deliverable.

“For instance, if for any reason it would take five weeks instead of the estimated four to deliver all the DDC machines needed, that would totally put the registration exercise in jeopardy. And the more we miss the timelines, the more difficult it becomes to adjust.

“Still, as a commission, we have repeatedly insisted that we shall work within the existing legal framework as contained in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Electoral Act 2010. We have also consistently said that the more time we have, the better the outcome of both the registration of voters and the 2011 elections.

“It is not the constitutional responsibility of INEC to establish or change the legal framework, including timelines, for electoral activities.

“Consequently, to canvass the change in the legal framework or Constitutional provisions on election dates would not only be inappropriate, but could open the commission to public suspicion, given the well known recent electoral history of Nigeria.

“The question of fixing and changing election dates has been one of the major sore points of our electoral experience in Nigeria. The degree of partisanship that usually informs discussions of these issues is legendary.

“Consequently, we decided as a commission that direct involvement in such debates could undermine the independence of INEC in the public eyes, and we deliberately chose to keep away from it.”

Jega recalled that at the just concluded retreat of INEC national commissioners and resident electoral commissioners in Calabar, Cross River State, the commission had noted that while “the constitution and electoral Act must remain sacrosanct, there is no point in delivering an electoral process the outcome of which will again be controversial and incredible.”

He said, “I alerted Nigerians that our ability to deliver a new voter register, which is the bedrock of free, fair and credible elections, depended largely on meeting certain timelines. Among these were award of contract for the acquisition of the Direct Data Capture machines early in August, delivery of the first 15,000 units of the machines early in September and training of registration officers by early to middle of September.”

According to him, INEC has decided to “explain the Herculean it challenges confronting to ensure transparency and Nigerians’ ownership of “whatever the commission is doing.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Okwesilise Nwodo, said the party had difficulty complying with the tight schedule imposed on it by the INEC timetable.

His counterpart in the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, said the party was more concerned about credible elections because it had been at the receiving end of most of Nigeria’s flawed elections.

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, described the request by INEC as a part of PDP’s plan to rig the poll.

“That INEC is calling for postponement now is an attempt by the PDP to rig the election but we are all vigilant,” he said in Abuja.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009225121675 Read more...

INEC may postpone elections

Indication has emerged that the 2011 general poll may be postponed as the Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday made public its intention to seek for more time to prepare adequately for the exercise.

The decision was reached after a two-day retreat by INEC’s top officials in Calabar, Cross River State.

Going by the timetable released by INEC barely two weeks ago, political parties are to conduct their primaries from September 11 to the October 30, 2010.

The registration of voters is to commence on November 1 and end November 14

The first set of elections are scheduled to begin on January 14, 2011.

The electoral body which also appealed to the National Assembly to expedite action on the enactment of relevant laws for the establishment of Electoral Offences Tribunal, however, reiterated its commitment to free and fair elections.

Observing that it could not deliver on its promises alone, INEC in a statement by its Secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Kangama, appealed to Nigerians, especially the National Assembly members for support.

If INEC’s request for time extension is granted, the amended 1999 Constitution and the 2010 Electoral Act, will have to be tinkered with.

The statement reads in part, “Having extensively and critically deliberated on the internal processes and external dimensions affecting the whole electoral process; and in particular, the upcoming voter registration exercise and the general elections in 2011, the commission observes as follows:

“That the task of conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2011 is a collective task for all Nigerians and not the commission alone.

“Therefore, the commission reiterates its commitment to free and fair conduct of elections and calls on all stakeholders to join in the task of achieving this objective.

“That there is the need to severely punish electoral offenders to serve as deterrent to others. Therefore, INEC calls on the National Assembly to enact a law for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal.

“Having examined the commission’s detailed action plan for the voter registration and elections, the retreat noted that the timeline for the implementation of this plan is very tight.

“Consequently, the commission shall endeavour to engage all the relevant stakeholders with a view to exploring all legal avenues for extension of time to enable the commission to deliver on the aspirations of Nigerians for a credible voter register and free, fair and credible elections. Should this happen, May 29 2011 inauguration date must remain sacrosanct.”

INEC stressed the need for political parties to “strictly adhere to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 and their constitutions in the conduct of their congresses, conventions and primaries.”

It added that it had developed an in-house software which would be rigorously field-tested before the commencement of voter registration.

The commission called on all stakeholders to ensure that incidences of underaged registration and other abnormalities were detected and prevented during the registration and display of the voter register.

The statement thanked Nigerians “for their expressions of goodwill, support and cooperation, which has inspired it to continue to give its best to the success of the upcoming voter registration and elections.”

Saturday Punch had in its September 18 edition exclusively reported that secret discussions had commenced between INEC and the National Assembly for an extension of time.

The Honourary International Investors Council had last Tuesday raised the alarm over the preparedness of INEC for the 2011 general elections.

At a news conference in Abuja, the council said the timing and the logistics on ground for the elections constituted major impediments to conduct of free, fair and peaceful poll in the country.

The council warned that Nigeria could not afford flawed elections in 2011 as it would not only have adverse effects on the flow of foreign investments to the country, it would impact negatively on Nigeria standing in the international community.

Civil society groups and some political parties had also called for the postponement of the general elections.

INEC chairman had on July 24 said that the commission was not seeking the extension of the poll.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009202165131 Read more...