Abuja – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reiterated its commitment to deliver credible and acceptable gubernatorial election that would meet the expectations of the people of Ekiti State.
The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Lagos, Oyo and Ekiti States, Mr Sam Olumekun, gave the assurances in Ado-Ekiti at the opening of a two-day “Election Monitoring And Support Centre” (EMSC) Capacity Building Workshop and Baseline Readiness Assessment for the 2022 Ekiti Governorship Election organised for key officials
The INEC has fixed June 18 to conduct governorship election in the state.
Sixteen political parties have indicated interest to participate in the election.
Olumekun said that the commission would leave no stone unturned at ensuring that the June 18, Governorship Election is free, fair, credible and acceptable to all stakeholders.
According to him, the workshop was the third in the series, since the first edition in 2014.
“In the light of this, therefore, training of election officials remains a significant aspect of the conduct of a free and credible election
“We are aligning our preparation with the use of the EMSC tool because as we understand, the EMSC has become the practice for managing electoral plans and implementations,” Olumekun said.
The INEC boss said “the workshop was organised, based on the fact that conduct of an election in a challenging environment, required duty officials to possess adequate skills, so as to be able to deliver credible results that would meet the expectations of the general public.
“This workshop is part of the deliberate efforts of the commission to deliver on its core mandate of conducting acceptable polls.
“The fact that every election is different is a greater impetus for us to use the EMSC tool to our advantage towards a successful implementation of the Ekiti governorship election.”
He said that the EMSC strategy was a tool, set to assist election administrators, in managing electoral plans by monitoring implementation in such a manner that the commission’s readiness for election can be easily evaluated
“It also assists in early identification of threats and challenges, and equally informs on how to deal with identified threats and challenges,” he added.
In his remarks, Prof. Rodah Gumus, INEC National Commissioner and Chairperson, Planning, Monitoring and Strategy Committee (PMSC) said that the EMSC architecture had been critical to the conduct of elections, as it enabled the Commission to track all pre-elections activities, pointing out the areas of weakness and strength.
“For the Ekiti election, the EMSC will provide the basis for assessing our level of preparedness across all local Governments, in line with established indicators.
“The need for tracking and monitoring electoral activities cannot be over emphasised as it provides the management with the information required to assess performance, activate control measures, and offer support where necessary.
“The Planning, Monitoring and Strategy Committee recognises the EMSC as a strategic framework for managing electoral activities and their eventual implementation,” she said.
According to her, the data driven EMSC tools will be fully deployed for the Ekiti Governorship Election to enhance prompt, accurate reporting of activities in the required format by the personnel involved.
Gumus said that the information supplied would subsequently be used for decision-making.
She said that it was important for all participants to understand the processes, respective roles and responsibilities.
“We will begin by establishing baseline readiness for the election, followed by weekly reporting from the EMSC Secretariat.
“I strongly believe that the resource persons, which would handle the various sessions, will intimate us on the processes and tools for data collection and reporting,” She added.
The national commissioner applauded the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) for their support in organising the workshop as well as the efforts of the Directorate, Planning and Monitoring Department for the conduct of this workshop.
Earlier, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, Dr Adeniran Tella hinted that 16 political parties would be participating in the poll in the 2,445 Polling Units and 177 Registration Areas in the state
He said the workshop was an indication of the determination of INEC to conduct a free, fair and acceptable election in Ekiti.
The INEC boss said the workshop would assist the commission to achieve another quality election which would be a reference point in the annals of the nation’s political history.
In his remarks, the Deputy Project Coordinator of ECES, Mr Wilson Manji, said that the centre had supported and trained so many officials of INEC.
Among the top INEC officials present at the workshop were Prof. Abolade Eyinla, the Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. N. J. Kuna, the SA to INEC Chairman and Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
