The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has come up with 142 recommendations to improve electoral process in Nigeria
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakub, stated this at the Opening Ceremony of a Two-Day Induction Retreat for Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on Monday in Lagos.
Yakubu said that the commission had published copies of the review report, saying it was already available on INEC website.
“But in addition, there is also the outcome of the retreats and engagements with stakeholders, which is right now being published.
“I can tell you that the commission has made 142 recommendations on the improvement of electoral process in Nigeria.
“As soon as the report is ready, we will go public and engage with Nigerians in this reforms.
“The reforms are categorised, the majority are for implementation by administrative action by INEC, but some are to be implemented by security agencies.
“We have those that require amendment to the electoral legal frameworks by the National Assembly. Some are to be implemented by political parties and other stakeholders.
“Nigerians should be patient, as soon as we conclude the processes very soon, we share this report with Nigerians,” Yakubu said.
On the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo, Yakubu said that the RECs in both states were experienced and would do the commission and the nation proud.
According to him, in Nigeria, there is no election session any longer as the commission conduct elections round the year.
He said that since the inauguration of the National and State Assembly in 2023, INEC had conducted nine by-elections and still had five by-elections outstanding before 2027 general elections.
Stating that the FCT Area council elections would also be due in 2026, Yakubu said that there was no respite for the commission again.
“As we innovate, we reflect, we review and we also implement,” he said.
On Edo, the chairman noted that the flood disaster that hit the INEC office in the state recently affected over 4,000 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), but the commission had been able to recover over 3,500 of the BVAS.
He said if the machines in the state would not be enough, the commission would call for additional support from neighbouring state.
Yakubu, in his speech, said that for INEC, the retreat was not just about induction of new appointees but an opportunity to review performance, reappraise processes, discuss innovations and engage service providers.
He said that it was also an opportunity to interface with lawmakers on critical areas of reform and explore new frontiers in our continuous effort to improve organisational capacity for better service delivery.
“In March 2022, we had an induction retreat for new National Commissioners, followed by another one on election logistics in October and then another retreat for new RECs in November.
“The most recent retreat was held in August last year to review the 2023 General Election.
“Today, we are holding another retreat to induct 10 new RECs: nine of them were sworn-in on Dec. 12, 2023 and one of them on 30th January 2024,” Yakubu said.
He said that in a matter of weeks after the swearing-in, many of the of the new RECs will be saddled with the task of conducting re-run elections in a few locations in some constituencies or bye-elections in entire constituencies.
According to him, INEC will conduct four major elections before the next General Election in 2027 which include the Anambra, Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections.
“Therefore, as we think, reflect and innovate for credible elections, we are also instantly implementing the reforms and innovations that we can introduce by administrative action.
“Since election is a process governed by law, we also plan to intensify our engagement with the National Assembly for activities that require legal reform,” he said.
The chairman charged the new RECs to be focus on how to acquaint themselves more with the processes and procedures of the commission.
He also urged the existing RECs to leverage on their privileged field experience to contribute on how to mitigate recurring challenges in the areas of pre-election and post-election litigations, operational issues.
He said that such experience should be in the area of logistics, improvement on voter education processes, issues of strategic communication and combating fake news, misinformation and disinformation as well as inclusivity in the electoral process.
The Chairman said that the experience should also cover voter registration, allotting voters to polling units, the role of technology from pre-election activities to election day processes.
He said that experience should also cover political party issues mainly arising from leadership crisis and the management of party primaries, the recruitment and training of election duty officials, election security and our own code of conduct.
He urged them to bear in mind that the cardinal objective of the retreat was to improved service delivery.
“I urge you to listen attentively to the presentations and, most importantly, contribute to discussions in a solution-oriented manner,” he said.
Yakubu expressed the Commission’s deepest appreciation to the Development Associates Inc. (DAI) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for supporting the retreat in particular and many other activities of the Commission in general.
He said : “The presence and goodwill messages of the DAI Team Leader Mr. Rudolf Elbling and the IFES Country Director Seray Jay is a further affirmation of their commitment to transparent and inclusive electoral process in Nigeria.
“We wish to reassure you that INEC remains committed to these ideals just as we are determined to continue to push the boundaries of credible and inclusive elections in Nigeria.”
Earlier in his welcome address, Prof. Ayobami Salami, the INEC REC, Lagos State, described the retreat as important and timely, saying that the platform would enhance electoral management in the country and inspire new ideas.
Salami said that electoral activities globally, especially in Nigeria, remained big tasks that required, uprightness, integrity and diligence.
Urging participants to take the retreat seriously, Salami said that at the end, RECs should be able to deliver a transparent, credible and acceptable electoral process, devoid of bias and partisanship.
In his remark, Mr Seray Jay, Country Director, IFES, who applauded INEC’s recent step of appointing experience ex-staff as RECs, said this would made election administration much easier.
Jay said that IFES had been partnering with INEC over years by providing technical support in the area of capacity building, training and other areas.
According to him, elections all over the world are difficult tasks but there is no other country where elections are much more difficult to hold than Nigeria.
“We assert our continuous support in advancing the aspiration of this commission,” Jay h said.
The retreat had in attendance RECs from the 36 states of the federation, directors and other management staff of the commission. (vitalnewsngr.com)
