By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Yobe state Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) has reiterated its preparedness for the conduct of the Local Government elections as earlier scheduled, Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Ibrahim Yabani Mohammed has assured.
He gave the assurance on Tuesday, 1st September, 2026 during a prees conference held at the Commission in Damaturu, the state capital.
According to Alhaji Mohammed, “the Nigerian Constitution has been amended, and all our operations are guided by the law, particularly the two basic laws governing elections and the electoral process in the country.
“On April 26, 2025, we declared that elections would be conducted in the 17 Local Government councils in the state. This was in compliance with the law, which required the election to be declared at least 300 days before the election date.”
“Although the new electoral law has reduced the required number of days, the declaration had already been made by my predecessor.”Consequently, all activities relating to the elections were clearly outlined in the guidelines. If you follow these guidelines, you will see that we are on track,” he noted.
The Commission had since issued guidelines requiring political parties to conduct their primaries between May 1 and May 31, 2026, following which the political atmosphere became highly charged and stressful for politicians, who had to comply with the timelines set by INEC.
“Our election could have taken place on June 6, 2026. However, we realised that conducting Local Government elections just one week after political parties had concluded their primaries across the country would have placed considerable pressure on politicians, the media and other stakeholders,” he said.
Consequently, the state approached the State House of Assembly, which amended the relevant law to allow the election to be postponed to September 26, 2026.
“This means that we are operating within the law and are not violating any legal provision. That was why it was possible to move the election date to September 26.
“I can also state categorically that today, September 1, we are commencing the screening of all candidates seeking to contest the forthcoming local government elections.”
According to the law and guidelines, the screening is expected to take place between September 1 and September 7, 2026.
“We have assigned ourselves into groups responsible for screening candidates for councillorship positions and others responsible for screening candidates for chairmanship and vice-chairmanship positions.
“The screening of councillorship candidates will take place at designated zonal centres. We have three zones, with teams headed by members of the Commission and supported by technocrats who will conduct the screening at the various centres,” he clarified.
According to him, one of the centres is in Damaturu, where the screening of chairmanship and vice-chairmanship candidates is taking place at the Commission’s headquarters. “This team is being led by me, each screening team comprises between six and seven members.”
For Zone A, covering areas including Damaturu, Tarmuwa, Bursari and other Local Government areas within the zone, the screening will be conducted at the designated centre, and the second team is in Zone B, with Potiskum as its centre. Councillorship candidates from the Local Government areas within that cluster are expected to report to Potiskum for screening.
“Information reaching me this morning indicates that the screening has already commenced in Potiskum, with candidates from some local government areas already screened, this demonstrates how seriously we are taking the process to ensure that everything is conducted in accordance with the law,” he said
The team for Zone C has also departed and will commence screening immediately, however, because the area is geographically vast, the team will conduct the exercise at two locations: one in the headquarters of the zone and another in Nguru, which means that the screening exercise will commence simultaneously across the three zones today, Tuesday.
Immediately after this press conference, “we will commence the screening of chairmanship and vice-chairmanship candidates at this conference hall. The exercise is expected to be concluded by September 7, 2026, in line with our guidelines.”
The screening guidelines are very clear and are based on the provisions of the Constitution, which specifies the qualifications required for anyone seeking to contest a particular position, “We have specific requirements for candidates seeking the position of chairman, as well as those seeking other positions.”
