Bayelsa, Kogi Elections: INEC Should Extend Voting Time – YIAGA Africa

Posted by: Folamidavid in News, Politics Nov 16, 2019

After the late commencement of voting in some of the polling units in Bayelsa and Kogi state, YIAGA Africa has urged INEC to extend the voting time for the gubernatorial election.

In a recent press statement via Twitter, the group said polling units in the 2 states did not start voting at the arranged time because of inadequate logistics.

They begged INEC to give people more time to vote so they will not be denied their rights.

The press statement was co-signed by the chair, YIAGA AFRICA working group, Hussaini Abdu and the Executive Director, YIAGA AFRICA, Samson Itodo.

His brief words, “This will ensure eligible voters are not disenfranchised.”

Do you think this should happen?

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), set up in 1998, is the electoral body which was set up to oversee elections in Nigeria.

The origin of the INEC goes back to the period before Independence when the Electoral Commission of Nigeria was established to conduct 1959 elections. The Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO), established in 1960 conducted the immediate post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965. The electoral body was dissolved after the military coup of 1966. In 1978, the Federal Electoral Commission was constituted by the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, organizing the elections of 1979 which ushered in the Nigerian Second Republic under the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It also conducted the general elections of 1983.

In December 1995, the military government of General Sani Abacha established the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria which conducted another set of elections. These elected institutions were not inaugurated before the sudden death of General Abacha on June 1998 aborted the process. In 1998 General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s Administration dissolved NECON and established the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC organized the transitional elections that ushered in the Nigerian Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999.

In January 2015, the “#BringBackOurGirls group has raised the alarm over plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude Chibok and some communities currently under the control of the Boko Haram from getting the permanent voter cards (PVCs) for the February elections.”