INEC Fixes March 9 For Supplementary Presidential Election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed March 9 to conduct a supplementary presidential election in areas where the poll was cancelled or declared inconclusive last Saturday.

Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, said the supplementary polls will be conducted alongside the governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

Okoye said the decision was reached during the commission’s meeting with resident electoral commissioners (RECs) on Thursday in Abuja.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu told the RECs that the processes and procedures deployed will be reviewed in a bit to make amends where necessary.

He also noted that the meeting would help to finalise arrangements for the forthcoming governorship elections in 29 states of the federation and the council election in FCT.

Yakubu asked the Commissioners to take a cue from the presidential election.

Ahead of the governorship and state houses of assembly elections, Yakubu stressed the need for the RECs to implement corrections learned from challenges faced in the February 23 exercise.

According to him, the preparations and conduct of the coming elections must be a tremendous improvement of the recently conducted exercise.

INEC had cancelled the presidential elections in some areas as a result of violence, which prevented the commission from deploying personnel and materials for the exercise.

Some of the places affected include two local government areas in River state as well as other parts of Lagos and Anambra states.

“Consequently, the meeting decided that supplementary elections will be conducted in all areas where elections did not take place and/or where returns could not be made on Satutday, 9th March 2019 alongside the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections,” Okoye said in a statement issued Friday.