Bye-Elections: INEC Opens Application Portal For Observers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invited civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (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, Electoral Party Monitoring (EPM), Mrs Hauwa Habib, in Abuja on Thursday.

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

This, according to her, was without prejudice to any previous correspondence with the Commission, adding that completion of the prescribed application form (EC14A(l)) remained the only accepted means of application.

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“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.

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

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

She said that the vacancies for the by-election and re-run elections occurred across two senatorial districts, four federal constituencies, and three state constituencies spanning nine states of the Federation.

She added that INEC was conducting the by-election/re-run election stemming from the 2023 general elections, as directed by various election petition appeal tribunals.

“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, Feb. 3,” Habib added.