By Esther Yakubu
A new date for legislative bye-elections would be made public by next week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
The commission said this followed consultation meeting with various stakeholders.
INEC, in a statement issued by National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, bemoaned that it suffered extensive damage and vandalization of its local government offices and facilities, including the areas where the bye-elections are scheduled to hold.
“The public will recall that the Commission met on October 22, 2020 with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to deliberate on the 15 outstanding bye-elections in 11 States of the federation earlier scheduled for October 31, 2020.
“Due to the security situation in the country at the time, the Commission decided to suspend the bye-elections and meet in two weeks to review its decision.
The Commission met on Thursday November 5, 2020 to further review the situation and decided that:
“The Commission suffered extensive damage to and vandalization of its local government offices and facilities, including the areas where the bye-elections are scheduled to hold. It is important to consult all the critical stakeholders in the electoral process before deciding on a definite date for the conduct of the bye-elections
“Consequently, the Commission will consult with political parties and civil society organisations on Tuesday November 10, 2020 and then with the media and Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Wednesday November 11, 2020.
“The Commission will thereafter meet again with the Resident Electoral Commissioners on Thursday, November 12, 2020 to decide on a date for the conduct of the bye-elections.
“We appeal to all stakeholders to continue to cooperate with the Commission in its efforts to conduct credible elections under a safe and conducive environment,” the electoral commission noted in the statement.
