We’re Mulling Proposals by ECONEC That Require Actions to Implement, Says INEC
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) that it was considering all the recommendations it proffered after the 2023 general election that requiredadministrative action to implement.
This it said was being mulled while waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing constitution review on aspects that require legislative intervention.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this in Abuja yesterday when the ECONEC Post-Election Mission to Nigeria led by Davidetta Browne-Lansanah paid a courtesy call at the commission’s headquarters.
He recalled that ECONEC made 37 recommendations for consideration by seven critical institutions and stakeholders in the electoral process.
Yakubu stressed that of these recommendations, 13 were addressed to INEC while 24 required action by other institutions and stakeholders such as the National Assembly, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), civil society organisations, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and political parties under the auspices of their umbrella body, the Nigeria Inter-Party Advisory Council (PAC).
“Of the 13 observations specifically addressed to INEC, the Commission has considered all the recommendations that require administrative action to implement while waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing legal review by the National Assembly on aspects of the recommendations that require legislative intervention.
“The Commission has prepared a detailed response on each of the 13 observations, most of which are already contained in our 142 recommendations for electoral reform which resulted from wide-ranging consultations with critical institutions and stakeholders, a copy of which is already available on our website.
“The review report as well as the main 2023 general election report and other relevant documents, are also available on our website. Nevertheless, hard copies of these reports and documents have been included in your document bags for this meeting,” he said.
Earlier, Browne-Lansanah noted that the joint post-2023 election follow-up and needs assessment mission to Nigeria was a peer-to-peer review of their presence during the 2023 elections, but more importantly, the recommendations that they offered, which were outlined in a report of our visit here.
She noted: “We have come to see how best INEC has implemented those recommendations. We anticipate that during our engagement, we may be able to understand reasons for some of the issues that came out of the 2023 elections and how INEC was able to navigate in a way that it has found answers to those challenges that abound during the 2023 elections.
“We see this mission as a lesson learned, not just for INEC Nigeria, but also for our own institutions, our own election management bodies, because as we know, problems or challenges that are faced by any election management body are often faced by election management bodies throughout our region.”
