COVID-19: INEC suspends regular activities for 14 days

TRACKING____The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended all regular and non-essential activities in its headquarters and offices nationwide for 14 days from March 24.

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, made the disclosure in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

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Okoye said that the commission also suspended its regular quarterly meetings with stakeholders and monitoring of conventions, congresses, conferences or meetings of political parties until further notice.

He said that the suspension is in view of the coronavirus pandemic and the preventive measures put in place by the federal and state governments.

“In line with the advisory on social distancing from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Commission has taken the following measures to protect its staff, visitors and the general public.

“Effective from March 24, all regular and non-essential activities will be suspended in its headquarters and offices nationwide for 14 days in the first instance.

“The regular quarterly meetings with stakeholders, namely political parties, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies and all other meetings have been suspended until such a time when normalcy returns.

“In addition, the commission will no longer monitor the conventions, congresses, conferences or meetings of political parties until further notice,” he said.

Okoye reiterated the commission’s commitment to openness, consultation and continued communication with its stakeholders and expected all to understand the emergency situation that informed the suspension of contact engagements.

“The health and well-being of all our staff, officials and the general public are of paramount importance to us.

“Notwithstanding the measures outlined above, the commission will continue to meet via non-physical contact channels while communication between the commission and its stakeholders will remain open,” he said.

Okoye emphasised that the new measures taken do not affect the activities for Edo and Ondo states governorship elections scheduled for September 19 and October 10 respectively.

“We will continue to keep the public abreast of developments as they concern our electoral process,” he said.