Kogi guber: Why we are conducting Kogi West Senatorial, governorship elections same day – INEC

The Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) on Tuesday gave reasons for conducting the Kogi West Senatorial District alongside the governorship election in Kogi State.

INEC said it would be saving the country over N290 million for conducting both the Kogi West Senatorial District and the governorship elections on Nov. 16.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with political parties in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Yakubu said that the senatorial election would have cost the country N300 million, if conducted as a standalone election.

He, however, said that conducting it same day with the governorship election would cost less than N10 million.

The INEC chairman also disclosed that the Brass I state constituency election, holding in six polling units in Bayelsa, would also be conducted on the same day with the governorship election.

According to him, INEC has already made arrangements for the elections.

“In the case of Kogi West, it is a whole senatorial district that the Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had nullified the election conducted on Feb. 23 and ordered INEC to conduct a re-run.

“By coincidence, the judgment of the Appeal Court came very close to the governorship election. So the commission decided to combine the election with that of Kogi West Senatorial district.

“As a standalone election, the senatorial district election in seven local government areas of the state would have cost the nation over N300 million.

“ We have to get ad hoc staff, make arrangements for transportation, accreditation of observers and also the cost on the part of the political parties and others.

“But because we are combining the election with that of the governorship, it is going to cost the nation less than N10 million, instead of over N300 million.

“So, the commission decided to combine the two elections in order to save cost and for convenience,’’ NAN quoted him as saying.

Yakubu appealed to political parties to advise their candidates and supporters to shun hate speech, inciting statements, physical attacks on opponents, destruction of electoral materials and other violations of the Electoral Act.