Nominations: INEC A Regulatory, Not Advisory Body- Okoye - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
October 10, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission INECsays it is a regulatory agency and not an advisory body.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Informationand Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this at a workshop forJournalists ahead of November 16th governorship election in Kogi today inLokoja.
Okoye said the commission was only vested withexclusive responsibility of organising, conducting and supervising election,stressing that INEC in its mandate was a regulatory rather than advisoryagency.
He said that insinuations by some disqualifiedparties and candidates that the commission ought to have scrutinised theirnomination forms and offer advice instead of outright disqualification weremisplaced.
The INEC Commissioner noted that parties wereexpected to ensure due diligence and quality control in their primaries andnominations, saying that the commission only had responsibility of enforcingprovisions of the Constitution and sanctioning non-compliance.
He said parties must get their legal advisers andparty organs to vet documents before submitting them to the commission, sayingINEC lacked powers to waive Constitutional provisions.