By Jude Opara, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged its staff members to be patriotic and dedicated to duty at all times.

Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said this at the send forth for eight retired staff in Abuja.

Oriaran-Anthony urged the staff to emulate the retirees whom she said adopted hard work and dedication to service as their mantra.

“It may seem that nobody is watching what you are doing but somebody somewhere is watching.

“We are celebrating them today because they retired blamelessly.

“Sacrifice your time, be dedicated to your work, and the money, recognition and the others will come,” Oriaran-Anthony said.

The scribe lauded the retirees for being diligent in service and urged them to continue to be good ambassadors of the Commission in their future endeavours.

“At any time you might be called upon again to come and serve either this commission or your country.

“In whatever capacity you are called upon to serve, do not say no when you can say yes,” she said.

Also in her remarks, INEC National Commissioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu, said serving in INEC was a privilege as it came with certain challenges.

Agbamuche-Mbu congratulated the retirees for being able to navigate those challenges successfully without any blemish.

In his intervention, the Chief Technical Adviser to INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, described INEC as one of the most difficult places to work in Nigeria because of the nature and demands of the work.

He advised the retirees to pay attention to their health, resources and children, no matter what they do.

“Manage your resources well and don’t fall into the hands of people with ponzi schemes. There is no 110 percent return on investment anywhere.

“Also in your retirement, put an eye on your children. Your children’s success is your success,” Eyinla advised.

The Director, INEC Secretariat, Maryam Musa, advised the retirees to be engaged in meaningful activities in their retirement.

Speaking on behalf of the retirees, a former Deputy Director, Nick Dazang, commended the staff for honouring them and described the event as encouraging.

Dazang urged INEC to sustain the gesture and also translate it into the conduct of more exquisite and superlative elections that would stand the test of time.

“All that we tried to do in the past was to see how we could lay the foundation for credible elections.

“Our prayer is that those who are coming after us will build on what we have started and they will even excel, do better and surpass the record that we have put in place,” Dazang added.

From Joseph Amedu,  Lokoja

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kogi State has adjourned pending the completion of inspection of election materials by the Social Democratic Party.

At the resumed hearing, the SDP said the INEC was cooperating with the inspection of materials as granted by the order of the Tribunal, but sought for more time.

Recall that the Tribunal had ordered INEC to issue certified copies of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the SDP within 48 hours.

It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine some electoral materials.

The materials include Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The tribunal ruled on Saturday in Lokoja that the SDP requested the materials to prove its case in the petition it filed against the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the election.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu gave the order following two ex-parte motions filed on Nov. 19 by the SDP and by its governorship candidate, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka.

Justice Birnin-Kudu at the resumed hearing adjourned pending when the inspection of materials would have been completed.

Lead counsel to the petitioners, Mr John Adele (SAN), had earlier told the court that efforts to obtain certified copies of materials used in the six local government areas from INEC had been fruitful, except for some hitch, leading to delay in meeting with the 48hours.

The SDP and Muritala Yakubu are challenging the victory of APC and its candidate, Alhaji Usman Ododo at the election petition tribunal.

Usman Ododo won the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka got 259,052 votes. 

From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kogi State has adjourned indefinitely pending the completion of inspection of election materials by the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

At the resumed hearing, the SDP said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was cooperating with the inspection of materials as granted by the order of the Tribunal, but sought for more time.

It could be recalled that the Tribunal had ordered INEC to issue certified copies of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the SDP within 48 hours.

It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine some electoral materials.

The materials include Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The tribunal ruled on Saturday in Lokoja that the SDP requested the materials to prove its case in the petition it filed against the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the election.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu gave the order following two ex-parte motions filed on Nov. 19 by the SDP and by its governorship candidate, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka.

Justice Birnin-Kudu at the resumed hearing adjourned pending when the inspection of materials would have been completed.

Lead counsel to the petitioners, Mr John Adele (SAN), had earlier told the court that efforts to obtain certified copies of materials used in the six local government areas from INEC had been fruitful, except for some hitch, leading to delay in meeting within 48 hours.

The SDP and Muritala Yakubu are challenging the victory of APC and its candidate, Alhaji Usman Ododo at the election petition tribunal.

Usman Ododo won the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka got 259,052 votes.