Despite the barrage of criticisms that have always characterised Nigerian elections since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the country’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scored itself high.
This is as Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, on Wednesday said the Commission was the most improved public service in the country which had improved consistently since it started conducting elections in 1999.
Yakubu who spoke at the review of the 2019 general elections conduct for the second batch of 387 Election Officers (EOs) from the Southern states of the country said INEC had significantly improved with every election.
“If you look at what happened to our elections since 1999, you will know that INEC is the most improve public service in Nigeria.
“We have offices at the grass-roots but we can do more. Feel free to make the observation and necessary suggestions. It is an opportunity to make our elections better,” he told the EOs.
On how INEC had enhanced the operational capacity of the EOs, Yakubu noted that “every organization should be interested in the succession plan. The Commission will not lose experienced hands soon. We try to build the capacity of our EOs by giving them the needed exposure.
“We involved the EOs in foreign election observation including various trips to Kenya, Liberia America. It helped me to assess the EO and I’ve not been disappointed with the quality of our EOs. You do more than just election-day activity,” he said.
Earlier, Mustapha Lecky, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Planning, Monitoring & Strategy Committee, said it was the second and final batch of the review from the remaining EOs from the 18 Southern states.
Lecky stressed that it was because of the critical roles EOs play in the elections that the Commission wanted them to make suggestions and recommendations that would improve on future polls.
James Kwen, Abuja
