Post-Election Review: INEC Meets Electoral Officers, Transporters
Story by independent.ng
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday, in Abuja, met with electoral officers (EOs) nationwide and transport unions to review logistics deployment and other critical issues regarding the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
National Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in an opening speech, said the commission considered it appropriate to interface with its field officers and transport service providers to review logistic arrangements during the 2023 general poll.
The transport unions, according to him, include the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).
Yakubu said the review will focus on ten critical areas, including the general state of preparedness for the election, voters’ registration process, the recruitment and deployment of ad hoc staff, and the receipt and deployment of election materials.
“It would be an opportunity to identify areas of strength and weakness for immediate improvement in forthcoming elections, especially the three off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States scheduled to hold on November 11, 2023.
“There is no doubt that the success of any election primarily depends on the ability to deploy personnel and materials to various locations.
“In Nigeria, this involves the biggest logistic deployment the nation periodically undertakes across vast terrains and often difficult topography.
“This has been a perennial challenge over time but is now compounded by issues of infrastructure and insecurity.
“However, the commission has to deploy personnel and materials not only for election day activities but electoral activities in general covering the period before, during and after the elections.
“Many of these activities such as the Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), monitoring of party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the election, the procurement and deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials must be accomplished ahead of the election otherwise critical election day processes will be impossible,” he said.
Yakubu said the commission plans to hold more engagements with internal and external stakeholders, including political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and security agencies.
The review, which went into a technical session immediately after the opening ceremony, was part of INEC’s commitment to ensuring that all elections in Nigeria ar free, fair, and credible.
The review is an opportunity to identify areas of strength and weakness for immediate improvement in forthcoming elections.
