Moses Ofodeme
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has embarked on knowledge sharing exercise to equip its Residents Electoral Commissioners, RECs, as more elections draw closer.
Speaking at the induction retreat for new Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, in Lagos on Monday, INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, said the forum has become imperative given that there are four major elections before the next General Election in 2027.
Yakubu informed them that the Anambra State Governorship election will take place next year and that will be followed in 2026 by the Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections and also that of the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“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 explained.
The Chairman of the Commission further reminded them that the reality of the work in INEC shows that there is no election season in Nigeria at all as elections are held all-year round in addition to numerous electoral activities such as voter registration.
He told them that the ongoing retreat is holding against the background of forthcoming governorship elections in Edo State in the next 81 days and Ondo State in the 137 days.
In addition, he said there are five pending bye-elections for Babura/Garki Federal Constituency of Jigawa State and four State constituencies: Khana II of Rivers State, Bagwai/Shanono of Kano State, Zaria Kewaye of Kaduna State and Ganye of Adamawa State.
These outstanding bye-elections bring the total of such elections to 14 since the inauguration of the national and state assemblies in June last year.
As new RECs, he urged them to focus on how they can acquaint themselves more with the processes and procedures of the Commission.
“For the veterans, we should leverage on our privileged field experience to contribute on how to mitigate recurring challenges in the areas of pre-election and post-election litigations, operational issues especially 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, voter registration, allotting voters to polling units, the role of technology from pre-election activities to Election Day processes, 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. In a well organised retreat such as this one, there is always something new to learn.
“Upon reflection, there is also new experience to share with colleagues. However, always bear in mind that the cardinal objective is improved service delivery.” he added.
He 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.
Yakubu noted that 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.
He reassured them 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.