INEC to conduct supplementary presidential poll (updated)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed March 9 to conduct supplementary elections in areas where the poll was cancelled last Saturday.

Festus Okoye, INEC’s national commissioner for information and voter education, said the supplementary polls will be conducted alongside the governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

Okoye said the decision was reached during the commission’s meeting with resident electoral commissioners (RECs) on Thursday in Abuja.

INEC had cancelled the presidential elections in some areas as a result of violence, which prevented the commission from deploying personnel and materials for the exercise.

Some of the places affected include two local government areas in River state as well as other parts of Lagos and Anambra states.

“Consequently, the meeting decided that supplementary elections will be conducted in all areas where elections did not take place and/or where returns could not be made on Satutday, 9th March 2019 alongside the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections,” Okoye said in a statement issued Friday.

“The meeting acknowledged the delays in the commencement of elections in a number of polling units which necessitated the extension of the closing of polls in the affected areas.

“The Commission is determined to rectify the identified challenges before the elections on 9th March.”

It is not yet clear what if the supplementary elections will affect the results of the election already announced.

It is, however, unlikely the number of registered voters in areas where the supplementary presidential elections will be conducted is up to the margin with which President Muhammadu Buhari used to defeat Atiku Abubakar.

Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got 15,191,847 votes while Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 11,262,978 votes.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited in view of further clarification