INEC Seeks Election Observers AHead Of February By-election

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invited civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) interested in observing the February rerun and by-election to apply via an online portal on or before January 17.
INEC said this in a notice issued by its acting Director of Electoral Party Monitoring (EPM), Mrs. Hauwa Habib, yesterday in Abuja.

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Mrs. Habib advised the organisations to visit (http://observergroups.inecnigeria.org) and complete the application form.

This, according to her, is without prejudice to any previous correspondence with the commission.

She said the completion of the prescribed application form (EC14A(l)) remained the only accepted means of application.

“Observer groups should particularly note that all other information, including legal status (registration with CAC), evidence of registration with the Civil Society Desk at INEC headquarters, evidence of registration previous election observation with INEC (if any), acknowledgment of submission of reports of observation (if any), should accompany the application.

“Any falsification of documents in the submissions will lead to automatic disqualification and possible prosecution.

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“The deadline for submission of application is January 17, 2024.

“The list of successful observer groups approved for accreditation will subsequently be published on the commission’s website and EPM observers’ WhatsApp platform,” Mrs. Habib said.

The acting EPM director said the vacancies for the by-election/rerun polls occurred across two senatorial districts, four Federal constituencies, and three state constituencies in nine states of the federation.

She added that INEC was conducting the by-election/rerun polls stemming from last year’s general election, as directed by various election petition appeal tribunals.

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“Currently, 35 constituencies are affected by these court-ordered elections. While three cover entire constituencies, others involve only a few polling units.

“Both categories of elections are scheduled to take place simultaneously in all affected constituencies on Saturday, February 3,” Mrs. Habib added.
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