INEC Withdraws Sensitive Electoral Materials From CBN Custody, Gives Reasons
After the failed presidential bid of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said it would no longer keep sensitive elections materials in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who made the disclosure at the weekend in Abuja at a symposium titled “The Electorate: A Conversation on Elections in Nigeria”, said the decision would start with June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State.
Yakubu said the decision was on the heels of Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele’s open declaration with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
A group under the platform, the Local Rice Producers association had procured Nomination Forms for Godwin Emefiele to vie for the exalted office of President under the APC.
While the Governor of the apex bank thanked the group for the gesture, he did not however appear before the Chief Odigie Oyegun screening panel. Emefiele confessed to being a member of the APC.
The INEC Chairman told the gathering that he took the decision to stay away from the apex bank to prevent election materials from being compromised.
Recently, prominent civil society organisations and individuals had expressed displeasure with the revelation that the CBN governor was a card carrying member of the APC since 2019.
Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, had told INEC that sensitive election materials can’t be stashed in the CBN, saying that “INEC is trying, it has deployed technology to get rid of rigging, but we can no longer keep sensitive election materials in the vault of the CBN.”
The CBN Governor Emefiele had approached the court seeking an order stopping the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the APC from disqualifying him but later withdrew the suit.
