As INEC Begins Internal Review Of 2023 General Election
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has explained why the Commission has not joined in the all commentaries on various aspects of the 2023 General Election held in February and March this year.
The INEC Chairman gave the explanation on Tuesday, during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), which marks the beginning of the Commission’s internal review process of the General election, held at the INEC Headquarters, Abuja.
Prof. Yakubu noted that since the conclusion of the election, diverse opinions have been expressed by political parties, candidates, observers, analysts and the general public on aspects of the elections. He welcomed the cocktail of opinions, saying, “such diverse opinions should normally be expected, and the Commission welcomes all of them insofar as their purpose is to improve the future conduct of elections and to consolidate our democracy”.
Explaining INEC’s position, Prof. Yakubu said “the Commission has consciously not joined in these commentaries in the immediate aftermath of the election for several reasons. First, our preference is to listen more and draw lessons rather than join in the heated and often emotive public discussion on the election.
“Second, since we plan to conduct our own review of the election, we see no need to pre-empt the process. Third, the Commission would not want to be seen as defensive or justificatory in joining the ongoing discussions”.
He continued “Finally, and perhaps most importantly, several issues around the election are sub-judice and it is not the intention of the Commission to either undermine or promote the chances of litigants in the various election petition courts beyond what is required of us by the legal process. Indeed, practically anything coming from the Commission could be cited by litigants as either justifying their claims or an indication of bias against them.”
Harping on the importance of the internal review process initiated by the Commission, the INEC Chairman highlighted some areas of interest that would be discussed by stakeholders involved in order to learn lessons with a view to strengthening the country’s electoral process.
He said “In the next few weeks, several internal debriefing meetings will be held, culminating in engagements with stakeholders. I implore the Resident Electoral Commissioners, as senior officials of the Commission, to lead the discussion on all aspects of the election from preparations, conduct and aftermath frankly and constructively.
“Among other issues, I expect you to cover such specific areas as; Operational processes for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and general elections, including planning, organisation, coordination and evaluation of activities, focusing particularly on such specific issues as the issuance of voters’ cards, logistics, delivery of materials, deployment of personnel, etc”.
He continued: “Legal framework for the conduct of elections with a view to addressing any key legal challenges that may have arisen prior to the 2023 General Election which were not envisaged before the election; Technologies deployed in the electoral process, including the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED); INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV); and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)”.
Prof. Yakubu also listed areas such as, “ party nomination portal; observer, media and polling/collation agents’ accreditation portals etc., focusing particularly on their performance; Effectiveness of overall administrative procedures and channels within the Commission in the coordination and execution of pre-election, election and post-election activities; Political party registration, party primaries and nomination of candidates for the 2023 General Election, as well as monitoring of the processes”
Other areas to focus attention during the review according to the INEC Chairman include, “Process of recruitment, training, deployment and performance of all categories of ad-hoc staff during CVR and the General Election; and Strengthening the Commission’s cooperation and relations with other bodies such as MDAs, NGOs etc. and any other issues in the electoral process that are likely to impact the work of the Commission in future”.
Prof. Yakubu who further disclosed that a comprehensive report will be produced and made public at the end of the internal review engagement with stakeholders, added that the Commission has so far received reports from 54 accredited national and international observers.
He assured that the Commission “will give equal prominence to all the reports and review them in a holistic manner to ensure that necessary lessons are learnt from their conclusions and recommendations”.
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