The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has disclosed that the commission will conclude two outstanding state and federal Assembly rerun elections in Rivers state by next year.
INEC had last weekend moved to conclude all the 22 rerun elections in the state, but was forced to cancel the exercise in two constituencies in Etche.
Speaking yesterday at the opening of a two-day workshop organised by the commission for some journalists in Abuja, he said there were 70 incidences of deliberate obstruction of the election process in Rivers state.
Yakubu stated that the commission has documented all the cases and is reviewing them for possible prosecution in line with its guidelines.
Yakubu said, “elections were massively disrupted in a substantial part of Etche Local Government Area which affected two constituencies; the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency and the Etche II State Constituency for which the Commission will decide on a new date early in the New Year”.
Condemning the killing of a police officer and other incidences of violence, the INEC boss expressed confidence in the ability of security agencies to investigate all violations of the nation’s laws “before, during and after the last rerun elections, including the alleged unsavory roles played by actors in uniform.”
He said INEC will work with the security agencies to uncover and punish those who disrupted the distribution of electoral materials in Okrika and Gokana as well as other incidences of violence.
Yakubu, who hailed the performance of some INEC staff who stood their ground in the face of violent threats from assailants, said the commission is also investigating some of its staff in Ahoada East and West, as well as in Etche and Ikwerre to determine their culpability or otherwise in the hitches experienced in those areas.
Speaking on the high number of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards PVCs, Yakubu disclosed that INEC is in the process of ensuring the automation of the processes of collection and transfer of such cards.
He said when the automation is completed, card owners would be able to track the location of their cards or apply for a transfer to another polling unit using the internet.
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