Ahead of the October 5th local government election in Jigawa, the state’s Independent Electoral Commission has inaugurated a judicial panel on electoral malpractices.

This is contained in a statement by the Commission’s Public Relations Officer, Habibu Yusuf, a copy of which was made available to PUNCH Online on Monday.

“The Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission has presided over the inauguration of a judicial panel on electoral malpractices regarding the forthcoming October 5, 2024 Local government elections,” Yusuf said.

According to the statement, the state Chief Judge, Umar Sadiq, administered the swearing-in of 13 judges under the chairmanship of Justice Musa Ubale.

He said the judicial panel is expected to receive complaints from those who felt cheated or robbed of their victory or any other negativities that emerged during the elections across the state.

The inauguration was attended by the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Bello Abdulkadir Fanini, chairman of the commission, Alhaji Auwalu Harbo, and the entire commission.

According to reports, President Bola Tinubu’s in July hailed the Supreme Court’s judgment on the local government autonomy bill, state governments and electoral bodies have been organizing elections.

Kano is set to hold its elections on October 26, while Bauchi and Kogi conducted theirs in August.

Additionally, Kwara, Enugu, and Imo held elections on Saturday, with Abia scheduled for November 2.

PUNCH