Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja
Barely three months after the passing away of the Deputy majority leader in the House of Representatives, Hon. Buba Jibril, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), wednesday said the commission was yet to be informed about his death.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi State, Professor James Apam, who disclosed this during a press conference said Jubril died on March 29, 2018, after a losing the battle against diabetes.
Apam said stated that up till that moment, there had been no official letter from the House, informing INEC about any vacancy.
“As a law abiding citizen of the country, we have to wait until we are officially informed that there is a vacancy in the house before we can commence the process of conducting by election to fill the position,†he said.
INEC’s explanation was coming on the heels of another by-election held in Oyo state to fill the position of the state’s house of assembly speaker, who died a month after Buba’s death.
In a related development, Apam has also expressed concern over the low collection rate of printed permanent voters cards in the state.
According to him, as at June 12, only 7,943 cards, out of the 112, 333 printed for the state, have been collected.
He called on those who registered between May and December 2017 to visit local government headquarters, where they registered to collect their PVCs.
Apam also raised concern over some security challenges hampering the continuous voters’ registration in some parts of the state.
“We have had to suspend our work in Omala and some parts of Dekina Local Government Areas following attacks by suspected herdsmen in those areas as the attack made those places unsafe for our staff to work there. Currently, we are experiencing some some security challenges in Bassa and Dekina Local Government Areas as a result of the violent communal conflict there,†he said.
“We believe that the security agencies and Traditional rulers are aware of the security breaches and are taking steps to bring them to an end,†he added
He said a quick resolution of these conflicts would be better for the commission’s work, in ensuring that every eligible voters is ready for elections in 2019.
