- Campaign kicks off in Benue
- Plateau fixes Saturday for mock election
- We won’t use BVAS – Anambra umpire
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has rejected an application by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting local government elections slated for October 26, 2024 in the state.
In a motion filed on September 20 before Justice Simon Amobeda by the APC and one Hon. Aminu Aliyu Tiga against the state electoral umpire, Kano State House of Assembly, Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice and 11 other defendants, the plaintiffs urged the court to grant an interim injunction to restrain the conduct of the council election across the 44 LGAs.
The plaintiffs also sought the leave of the court for an interim injunction directing all parties to maintain status quo and for the electoral body particularly to stay further actions regarding the preparation for the conduct of the poll in Kano, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The APC had further asked the court to grant the leave to the bailiff of the court to service KANSIEC, the state assembly and two other defendants with all the processes in the suit through any staff or officer at the office of Attorney General of the state.
But Justice Amobeda yesterday declined to grant an interim injunction to stop KANSIEC from perfecting arrangements for the processes of the conduct of council election already slated for October 26, 2024.
The court however allowed APC to put KANSIEC and other defendants on notice of all processes, and abridged hearing for the substantive application to five days beginning from the date of service of the originating process and order of the court to the defendants.
The presiding judge adjourned the hearing until October 4, 2024 with commitment to accelerate hearing on the matter, cautioning parties against any act that would prejudice the hearing and quick determination of the matter.
Recall that Justice Ado Maaji of the state high court had also granted an interim injunction, restraining APC, PDP, NNPP and 16 others from taking any action that would tamper with the statutory responsibility of KANSIEC on conduct of the election.
Campaign kicks off in Benue
Meanwhile, the APC has officially launched its campaign for the October 5 local government elections in Benue State.
Governor Hyacinth Alia urged candidates to work tirelessly to ensure victory, while promising a level-playing field for all parties.
Represented by the deputy governor, Sam Ode, Alia handed flags to 23 chairmanship candidates and their running mates and charged them to serve their people.
Plateau fixes Saturday for mock election
In Plateau, the state Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) said it will conduct mock elections on Saturday as a test case ahead of the local government elections slated for October 9 in the state.
Chairman of the commission, Plangji Cishak, disclosed this yesterday during a stakeholders’ meeting in Jos.
“As we continue our preparations, a mock election is scheduled for September 28, 2024. This exercise will serve as a test run for the Voter Verification Software and will help us identify any potential challenges before the actual election day.
“Our goal is to ensure that everything runs seamlessly on October 9, and we are dedicated to learning from this mock election to enhance our processes,” he said.
We won’t use BVAS – Anambra umpire
However, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) has said it will not use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the LG elections slated for September 28, 2024 in the state.
Tony Nnalue, the Commissioner in charge of Information and Logistics at ANSIEC, disclosed this yesterday during a sensitisation programme organised by the International Peace and Civil Responsibility Centre (IPCRC).
He said the commission has opted for manual accreditation because BVAS are “not reliable.”
He said, “We will not use BVAS but manuals. BVAS is not reliable; it has distorted the electoral process in Nigeria. We don’t want a situation where election results are tampered with at night in the name of BVAS.”
Nnalue also said the commission would utilise the voter registration data from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the LG elections.