Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, says the Commission has come up with 142 recommendations to improve the future electoral process.
Yakubu disclosed this at the opening of a 2-day Induction Retreat for Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) yesterday, in Lagos.
He said the Commission had published the report of the review of the 2023 elections, adding it was already available on its website, adding that in addition, there is also the outcome of the retreats and engagements with stakeholders, which is right now being published.
According to him, “As soon as the report is ready, we will go public and engage with Nigerians on these 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 an 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 process very soon, we will share this report with Nigerians”, Yakubu said.
According to the INEC Chairman, in Nigeria, there is no election session any longer as the Commission conducts elections all year round.
He said that since the inauguration of the National and State Assembly in 2023, INEC had conducted nine by-elections and still had to conduct five by-elections before the 2027 general elections.
Stating that the FCT Area council elections would also be due in 2026, Yakubu said there was no respite for the Commission again. “As we innovate, we reflect, review, and implement”, he stated.
He said that in a matter of weeks after the swearing-in, many of the new RECs were 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 2027, listing them as Anambra, Ekiti and Osun State governorship elections.
The Chairman charged the new RECs to be focused on how to acquaint themselves more with the processes and procedures of the Commission.
He urged the existing RECs to leverage their privileged field experience to mitigate recurring challenges in the areas of pre-election and post-election litigations and operational issues.
He also urged RECs to help on political party issues mainly arising from the leadership crisis and the management of party primaries, the recruitment and training of election duty officials, election security and our own code of conduct.
The INEC Chairman charged them to bear in mind that the cardinal objective of the retreat was for improved service delivery.
Earlier in his welcome address, the INEC REC, Lagos State, Ayobami Salami, described the retreat as important and timely, saying that the platform would enhance electoral management in the country and inspire new ideas.
Salami, a Professor, said that electoral activities globally remained big tasks that required uprightness, integrity and diligence. Urging participants to take the retreat seriously, he said that in the end, RECs should be able to deliver a transparent, credible and acceptable electoral process and one that is devoid of bias and partisanship.
