The Independent National Electoral Commission has embarked on the formulation of its Election Project Plan in preparation for the 2027 general election.

A top official in the commission disclosed this to ELANZANEWS.

The official stated that lessons learnt from the 2023 general election were being applied to the planning for 2027.

He disclosed that the commission was already updating its election templates for the upcoming election cycle, with the goal of improving the efficiency and reliability of its processes.

The official said, “The formulation also includes the production of the 2027 – 2031 Strategic Plan to replace the current 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan, which ends in December next year.

“An important aspect of the current effort is the preparation of another critical document that will act as a bridge between 2026 and 2027 – the general election year – which the current 2022- 2026 plan does not cover. This particular document will provide the foundation for the 2027 EPP document.

“While the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan prioritised the institutionalisation of the commission’s processes for the delivery of its mandate, focusing on capacity building, promotion of professionalism, encouraging synergy among departments and improving efficient mobilisation and utilisation of resources among others over a four-year cycle, the EPP is a comprehensive document that focuses solely on a general election.”

Findings ELANZANEWS revealed that the EPP was first produced for the 2015 general election. Since then, EPPs were produced for subsequent 2019 and 2023 general elections.

Following the challenges faced during the 2023 general election, INEC is refining its processes to ensure smoother operations in future polls.

According to reports, the commission faced a few logistical and technical hurdles during the 2023 general election while managing a voter base of 93,469,008 registered voters across 176,846 polling units.

The election saw the deployment of over 1.5 million personnel, including polling staff, supervisors, and security personnel, along with 182,491 vehicles to facilitate the voting process across Nigeria’s diverse terrains.

Reports indicated that despite the extensive preparations, one of the significant issues during the 2023 election was the difficulty in uploading presidential election results to the INEC Result Viewing portal.

While the system successfully managed uploads for the National Assembly elections, the presidential election results faced delays due to technical glitches.

The root cause of the issue was traced to a configuration problem that prevented the system from properly mapping the presidential results, which are countrywide, as opposed to state-specific elections.

The commission later addressed the issue with software updates, and the first presidential election result sheet was successfully uploaded later in the evening on the election day.

… Reject ex-gov defection
… Insist his anti-people policies undermines democracy

A coalition of youths within Nigeria’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) has vehemently opposed the recent defection of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, asserting that his “history is littered with anti-democratic tendencies and a disregard for inclusivity.”

El-Rufai officially joined the SDP earlier this week after publicly criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and engaging with opposition leaders. However, his defection has ignited significant backlash among certain party members, particularly within the SDP Youths and Supporters Coalition.

In a statement released on Friday, the coalition, led by its president, Comrade Abdulsamad Bello, labelled El-Rufai as “unfit and morally unqualified” to be part of the SDP, citing his so-called “anti-democratic record” during his tenure as governor.

“We categorically reject El-Rufai’s entrance into our party. He comes not as a reformer but as an undertaker, seeking to undermine the SDP before it even has the opportunity to flourish,” Bello stated.

The coalition further condemned the party’s leadership for what it termed a “clandestine deal” that facilitated El-Rufai’s defection, warning that his involvement could jeopardise the party’s stability.

“El-Rufai has consistently demonstrated a lack of belief in democracy. His track record of suppressing opposition voices, sidelining party members, and enforcing his will through coercion is well-documented,” Bello continued.

“It is astonishing that the leadership of our party would permit itself to be infiltrated by someone whose time in office was characterised by impunity, authoritarianism, and a blatant disregard for democratic principles.”

Tensions have already flared following the former governor’s entry into the party. On Wednesday, his supporters staged a protest at the SDP national headquarters in Abuja, demanding the resignation of the party’s national secretary, Olu Agunloye.

According to the youth coalition, this incident is indicative of El-Rufai’s attempt to assert control over the party’s leadership.

“Merely days after joining our party, El-Rufai is already pushing for a leadership change. He is demanding the resignation of Olu Agunloye, despite the party having its own internal mechanisms for addressing such issues.

“This is a clear indication of his desperation to dominate the SDP and reshape it in his own image,” the statement asserted.

The group accused El-Rufai of utilising the SDP as a vehicle for his personal political ambitions, particularly in light of his recent criticisms of President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

“El-Rufai’s departure from the APC and his calculated entry into the SDP is nothing more than a desperate attempt to rebrand himself politically,” Bello remarked.

“The same individual who previously derided opposition leaders and dismissed them as irrelevant is now seeking refuge among them. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto

The Sokoto state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have accuses the ruling All Progressive Party  (APC) led government of resorting to overdraft before meeting it’s obligations.

Making the allegation in a press release signed by the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Hassan Sahabi Sanyinnawal, the party expressed gave concerns on the development saying, this is coming at a time when huge amount of money is coming into the state from the federation account every month.

“”The PDP is constrained to accord credence to the widely held claim that the State Government currently resorts to overdrafts to meet up with its obligations to civil servants and pensioners. We view this as an alarming development, considering the unprecedented funds that accrues to the State from Federal Allocations monthly, without any visible competing expenditure on real development projects”.

While decrying that their sympathy also goes out to all employees in the state who are yet get their February salary, PDP said, as things stands,  some civil servants might not get paid even after fasting.

This, according to the party,  could be linked to the ongoing politically initiated workers verification exercise which has made life very biting for some workers perceived to be apologetic to the PDP.

The release from Hassan Sahabi Sanynnnawal read in part, “‘It is with deep sympathy for state government employees and concern over the condition of the Sokoto State civil service that the People’s Democratic Party in the State wishes to express indignation over the repeated failure of the Sokoto State Government to promptly pay monthly salaries to its employees.

“‘This sad development which reared its ugly head, since the APC administration of Ahmed Aliyu made a belated attempt to pay the national minimum wage, has now become the norm. We note that salaries are now  delayed up til the middle of the new month, along with a backlog of unpaid workers from the previous month.

”The PDP is constrained to accord credence to the widely held claim that the State Government currently resorts to overdrafts to meet up with its obligations to civil servants and pensioners. We view this as an alarming development, considering the unprecedented funds that accrues to the State from Federal Allocations monthly, without any visible competing expenditure on real development projects””.

Continuing, Hassan said, ”Most regrettable is Ahmed Aliyu’s failure to pay February salaries way into the month of March and the beginning of the sacred month of Ramadan, which is the first time in the history of Sokoto State. It is additionally regrettable that many civil servants are still unpaid, as the middle of the fasting approaches”‘.

He therefore submitted that, the development negates the governor Ahmed Aliyu’s pledge of prompt settlement of salaries to show a gross deviation from his lofty campaign promises to the people of the state.