The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has barred all of its staff found guilty of negligence in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections from participating in March 11 governorship and state assemblies elections across the country.
This was announced by INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during a meeting with the Resident Electoral commissioners (RECs) in Abuja on Saturday.
He said:
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“As we approach the governorship and state assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians.
“All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including collation and returning officers (ROs), must not be involved in forthcoming elections.
“RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.”
The meeting was was to discuss the conduct of the 2023 General Elections, and a review of the presidential and National Assembly elections held a week ago.
Yakubu noted that a lot of lessons had been learnt from last Saturday’s poll, adding that immediate concern of the commission was how to address identified challenges.
Next week’s election will witness 28 state governorship elections and 993 state houses of assembly seats across the federation.
