INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu Maps Out Electoral Reform Agenda

Oru Leonard 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has identified 142 recommendations to enhance the electoral process in Nigeria. Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made this known at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja.

The review report contains recommendations on early/special voting for the millions of Nigerians who do not vote at the moment on account of the roles they play during elections such as INEC officials, security personnel, ad hoc staff, observers and journalists who are deployed outside the places where they registered to vote.

There are also recommendations in support of diaspora voting, the unbundling of the Commission with the establishment of electoral offences tribunal and a separate agency to handle the registration and regulation of political parties. Similarly, the Commission will step up action on voter access and distribution to Polling Units. “As a matter of urgency, the Commission also intends to develop protocols for the cleaning up of the voters’ register in collaboration with other agencies such as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the National Population Commission (NPC). Other areas of reform include advocacy for affirmative action for greater participation of under-represented groups, a more robust voter education and public communication to combat fake news and misinformation.

“Furthermore, the Commission intends to review the mechanisms for a more effective implementation of agreements on logistics with the transport unions and other service providers by consolidating on the recent experience with early deployment and commencement of elections in the recent Ondo State Governorship election”, he explained.

He said the hardcopies of the General Election and Review reports will be presented to the public shortly, while the soft copy of the Report will also be uploaded to the INEC website.