Tuesday, March 22, 2011
INEC-NBA team further 870,612 offenders
The 870,612 people found to have been involved in a dual listing in voter registration just ended across the country will soon be prosecuted, the Independent National Electoral Commission said.
The Commission Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, had while announcing the final list of registered voters in Abuja March 3, 2011, revealed that 870,612 people participated in a double registration.
He added that some of those involved in the crime were "Nigerian High Level
About 73.58 million people registered during the fiscal year ended Feb. 5.
But on Monday when he unveiled the new certification and the voting procedure for the general election, Jega said a team of lawyers from the committee was to meet with another team formed by the Bar Association of Nigeria refine the procedure for the trial of the suspects.
He said, "We are determined to prosecute offenders election.
"We have already recorded the prosecution of offenders during the electoral registration process and we are working with the NBA. We had a meeting with the president of the NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), last week.
"This week a team we have put in place and an NBA team has established and will meet to refine the details of the prosecution. We have evidence and we have information.
"People who have taken dual enrollment will be charged in court. Hopefully it's a simple case. We made a commitment and we will ensure that these offenders are charged to the court before the election. "
Article 24 of the Electoral Act, 2010 does double registration of an offense punishable on summary conviction to a year or a fine of N100, 000 or both.
Jega told the representatives of civil society groups that attended the event that the Commission adopt the voting system open secret in the conduct of elections.
The system was adopted for the elections from 1992 to 1993 was judged to have been the fairest election ever and freer in the country, but the military under General Ibrahim Babangida annulled.
Jega added that the election law allows voters to stay behind and watch the vote count.
His explanation, however, is different from the police to prevent the voters leaving the polls after the vote.
The INEC boss noted that the number of Nigerians who came to register and comment on the poll body left with no choice but to work to ensure a credible exercise.
He also told the representatives of civil society that INEC would be Tuesday (today) show party leaders samples of the ballot at an emergency meeting.
He said the committee has completed its work on the appointment process and continues with the printing of ballots.
He said: "I want to take this opportunity to discuss the voting process is an area that Nigerians really need to understand enough to be able to make good use of it.
"The goal of all new accreditation process is to ensure transparency and ensure that every vote counts.
"Obviously, it will look a bit heavy and one of its major challenges is crowd control especially in the areas of voting or polling stations where the number of registered voters is large.
"Basically, this procedure is not new in this country, it was what was used in 1992/93 elections. He called the open voting system changed.
"The new voting procedure requires you to make initial accreditation and determine the number of voters registered in the polarization unit before starting the voting.
"I said it's a little heavy, because at some point, all voters must be accredited this to queue before voting begins.
"People in the queue will now pick up their ballots, go into the booth, mark the candidate they want and then go out in the open air where the urn is then vote.
"When voting is finished, one of the most important requirements of this procedure is to ensure that the total number of votes cast does not exceed the total number of accredited persons on the queue that have actually voted.
"Whenever there is a difference between those before the vote counted and the number, then the results are automatically canceled."
Jega described the nomination of candidates by political parties as "difficult because of the number of court cases and orders we received."
However, he stated that INEC had been "able to navigate the minefield to the best of our abilities."
"We have in fact been carried out the printing of ballot papers and reports we receive, we are convinced that everything is on track," he added.
Jega also promised an overhaul of the mechanism of INEC, once the elections were over.
"Trying to make internal reorganization and restructuring, we also need to be very, very careful not to do things that can disrupt knowing that time was a major challenge for us," he said.
The Commission Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, had while announcing the final list of registered voters in Abuja March 3, 2011, revealed that 870,612 people participated in a double registration.
He added that some of those involved in the crime were "Nigerian High Level
About 73.58 million people registered during the fiscal year ended Feb. 5.
But on Monday when he unveiled the new certification and the voting procedure for the general election, Jega said a team of lawyers from the committee was to meet with another team formed by the Bar Association of Nigeria refine the procedure for the trial of the suspects.
He said, "We are determined to prosecute offenders election.
"We have already recorded the prosecution of offenders during the electoral registration process and we are working with the NBA. We had a meeting with the president of the NBA, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), last week.
"This week a team we have put in place and an NBA team has established and will meet to refine the details of the prosecution. We have evidence and we have information.
"People who have taken dual enrollment will be charged in court. Hopefully it's a simple case. We made a commitment and we will ensure that these offenders are charged to the court before the election. "
Article 24 of the Electoral Act, 2010 does double registration of an offense punishable on summary conviction to a year or a fine of N100, 000 or both.
Jega told the representatives of civil society groups that attended the event that the Commission adopt the voting system open secret in the conduct of elections.
The system was adopted for the elections from 1992 to 1993 was judged to have been the fairest election ever and freer in the country, but the military under General Ibrahim Babangida annulled.
Jega added that the election law allows voters to stay behind and watch the vote count.
His explanation, however, is different from the police to prevent the voters leaving the polls after the vote.
The INEC boss noted that the number of Nigerians who came to register and comment on the poll body left with no choice but to work to ensure a credible exercise.
He also told the representatives of civil society that INEC would be Tuesday (today) show party leaders samples of the ballot at an emergency meeting.
He said the committee has completed its work on the appointment process and continues with the printing of ballots.
He said: "I want to take this opportunity to discuss the voting process is an area that Nigerians really need to understand enough to be able to make good use of it.
"The goal of all new accreditation process is to ensure transparency and ensure that every vote counts.
"Obviously, it will look a bit heavy and one of its major challenges is crowd control especially in the areas of voting or polling stations where the number of registered voters is large.
"Basically, this procedure is not new in this country, it was what was used in 1992/93 elections. He called the open voting system changed.
"The new voting procedure requires you to make initial accreditation and determine the number of voters registered in the polarization unit before starting the voting.
"I said it's a little heavy, because at some point, all voters must be accredited this to queue before voting begins.
"People in the queue will now pick up their ballots, go into the booth, mark the candidate they want and then go out in the open air where the urn is then vote.
"When voting is finished, one of the most important requirements of this procedure is to ensure that the total number of votes cast does not exceed the total number of accredited persons on the queue that have actually voted.
"Whenever there is a difference between those before the vote counted and the number, then the results are automatically canceled."
Jega described the nomination of candidates by political parties as "difficult because of the number of court cases and orders we received."
However, he stated that INEC had been "able to navigate the minefield to the best of our abilities."
"We have in fact been carried out the printing of ballot papers and reports we receive, we are convinced that everything is on track," he added.
Jega also promised an overhaul of the mechanism of INEC, once the elections were over.
"Trying to make internal reorganization and restructuring, we also need to be very, very careful not to do things that can disrupt knowing that time was a major challenge for us," he said.
