The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) has responded to conflicting court orders issued as a result of an internal crisis that has rocked some political parties across the nation.
INEC ‘s National Information and Voting Education Commissioner Festus Okoye said on Tuesday June 23 that they had convened a meeting due to the crisis that could impede the smooth conduct of primaries and the forthcoming Edo state governorship elections.
Okoye revealed that they resolved that the conduct of party primaries and dispute resolution should end on June 27, while the submission of the list of candidates proposed by the parties at the election and the affidavits of validly nominated candidates will close on June 29, 2020 at 6 p.m.
The INEC Commissioner said;
“In view of this and as part of its commitment to deepen the use of technology in elections, the commission will conduct a training programme for Liaison Officers nominated by all the registered Political Parties on the use of the INEC Portal for uploading nomination forms of candidates.
“The training will take place at the Conference Hall of the Commission on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th June 2020 in two batches, to allow for physical distancing in line with the COVID-19 protocols.
“Political Parties should note that the organisation and scheduling of various activities and processes leading to the conduct of elections are complex and involve extensive and careful planning and any disruption of these processes comes at a huge cost to the nation.
“The spate and tenor of pre-election litigations and the conflicting orders emanating there from can harm the smooth conduct of primaries and the upcoming elections.”
The electoral commission, which stated that it is ready to obey all orders and judgments in compliance with the rule of law, added that it closely tracks cases arising from political party administration, primary conducted and nomination of candidates.
INEC also revealed that it considered the report from the meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES), which recently approved a code of conduct and rules of engagement on electoral duty for security officials. On June 25th, this will be submitted to INEC’s websites, the NSA office and Nigeria police force.