Kogi West senatorial re-run poll holds tomorrow — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the possibility of postponing tomorrow’s Kogi West Senatorial bye-election between senators Smart Adeyemi and Dino Melaye. Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja that there were no reasons why either the November […]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the possibility of postponing tomorrow’s Kogi West Senatorial bye-election between senators Smart Adeyemi and Dino Melaye.

Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja that there were no reasons why either the November 16 elections or tomorrow’s re-run should be cancelled or postponed respectively.

Oyekanmi, who was asked to react to the twin-petition of Senator Melaye, said the commission as a product of the law.

He said INEC as a law abiding organisation would continue to operate within the ambit of the law and that Melaye’s petition could not be a reason to postpone the elections.

“There are provisions in the Electoral Act as amended on the basis upon which elections may be postponed. Individual petitions cannot replace the provisions of the law, including the section 26 of the Electoral Act,” he said.

Meanwhile, the INEC has said that it will continue to use and deploy the Smart Card Reader (SCR) in all elections including tomorrow’s rerun elections in the Kogi West Senatorial District, the Ajaokuta Federal Constituency and Sabuwa State Constituency elections.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mr. Festus Okoye, said this yesterday in Abuja.

He said the clarification became necessary due to remarks attributed to him at a program in Abuja, which gave the impression that the SCR were no longer useful in the electoral process.

Meanwhile, the commission yesterday began the distribution of sensitive materials to the areas slated for the exercise.

The materials, which were stored at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lokoja, were taken delivery of in the presence of INEC officials, including the National Commissioner for Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, Mohammed Haruna, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. James Apam, representatives of the political parties, personnel from security agencies and reporters.

Haruna explained that the materials were for onward distribution to the affected areas that the supplementary poll is to be conducted in Kogi West and in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency.