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.