INEC warns parties over lawsuits, conflicting court orders

The Independent National Electoral Commission has expressed concern over the pre-election litigations and the conflicting orders emanating before the primaries of the governorship election in Edo State scheduled for September 19, 2020, describing it as a serious threat.

The commission also said it would conduct a training programme for liaison officers nominated by all the registered political parties on the use of its portal for uploading nomination forms of candidates.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a statement after its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, warned that such litigations and conflicting orders could harm the smooth conduct of primaries and the forthcoming elections.

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According to him, the commission also considered the report from the meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, which recently approved a code of conduct and rules of engagement for security officials on election duty.

The code was signed by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, National Security Adviser as Co-Chairman of ICCES and the Inspector-General of Police as Head of the lead agency in election security.

Okoye said the code would be uploaded on the websites of the INEC, the Office of the NSA and the Nigeria Police Force Thursday, June 25, 2020.

The statement reads, “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 tenure of pre-election litigations and the conflicting orders emanating therefrom can harm the smooth conduct of primaries and the upcoming elections. The commission is closely monitoring the cases arising from the administration of political parties, the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates.

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“This notwithstanding, the commission restates its avowed commitment to continue to obey all orders and judgements from properly constituted courts in accordance with the rule of law.”