The report of the 2019 general elections of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recommended the recruitment of supplementary ad hoc staff for elections from government ministry, department and agencies (MDAs) and professional associations such as the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The report, which was presented to members of the public, made case for the involvement of permanent staff in election day activities, adding that “the use of commission staff may reduce compromise, enforce discipline, improve quality of service and most importantly, make punishment of erring officers easier.”
The report, which contains two documents, the report of the 2019 general elections and the report of the commission’s retreats and stakeholder engagements, also recommended for the adoption of electronic voting and early/special voting for election duty and other related officials, as well as improvement of voter registration process to accommodate online registration, in future elections.
Other recommendations include the “demilitarisation of elections to enhance voter turnout”, as well as ” accessibility to all collation centres to all stakeholders to promote transparency.”
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who presented the report, said although such a review was undertaken in the past, “this is the first time that the report is published and disseminated with the public.
“It contains 180 recommendations that either require administrative action by the commission or amendments to strengthen the existing electoral legal framework by the National Assembly.”
According to Mahmood, some of the recommendations that require administrative action by INEC were already being implemented, which he explained, resulted in improved management of the electoral process in Edo and Ondo governorship.
He added that the commission is engaging with the National Assembly on aspects of the recommendations that require legislative action.
Chairman of the Electoral Operations and Logistics Committee of INEC, Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu, said the commission was “guided by a number of principles including openness driven by a genuine consultation, sound knowledge informed by good science and good collaboration based on partnership,” in the preparation of the reports.
Ibeanu stated that the reports revealed five key lessons “including that fact that election could not rise above the structure and the infrastructure of the society.
“It is the same roads washed off that the commission has to use to conduct elections. It is the same airlines that run late that we have to use. The second lesson is that trust is at the heart of every election and that is why the commission has placed a lot of emphasis on openness and transparency in building trust.”
INEC had ordered a review of the general elections as a guide for conduct of future elections. It also held several retreats for its commissioners and staff, and engaged election stakeholders on the way forward.
It covered a wide range of areas, including preparations for elections; voter registration and collection of permanent voter’s card (PVC); voter education, publicity and external relations; political parties and election observation; recruitment, training, deployment and remuneration of election personnel, among others.