2019 election: Yakubu gives thumbs up for INEC, says commission most improved govt agency

By Patrick Okohue

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has given thumbs up to the agency, saying it is one of the most improved public institutions in Nigeria, putting into account the level of improvements recorded in the nation’s electoral system from 1999 to date.

The INEC boss, who spoke at the 2019 Post-Election Review session with the second batch of Electoral Officers (EOs) from 17 states, in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the commission should be rated high when compared with its counterparts in other West Africa countries, and given its area of wide coverage and staff dedication to duty.

According to him, “Whenever I compare what we have done with what my colleagues elsewhere have done, I sometimes say we are many countries in West Africa rolled into one.

“Given the size of our voter registration, our population, one can conveniently say, if you look at what happened in our elections from 1999 to date, I have no doubt in my mind that INEC is the most improved public service institution in Nigeria.

“We have offices in all the Local Government Areas (LGAs). Tell me one agency which has offices in LGAs and the staff work as hard as our EOs and staff at the LGA levels?

“We have everything to be very proud of, but however, we never rest on the understanding that we have done very well and we are doing very well. We are convinced that we can do more.

“Therefore, the purpose of this interactive meeting is for us to explore ways and means by which we can improve the system even more,” he said.

While promising that the Commission would not lose the experience it had gathered over the years on improving the electoral process, Yakubu advised the electoral officers to share their experiences to help improve the country’s electoral process.

“So, feel free to make suggestions, observations, comments on how we can make the system even better.

“This is our meeting, we should open up better where we need to work even harder to make the electoral process what it should be,” he said.

An Electoral Management Expert, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Mr Seray Jah, commended INEC for its commitment to reviewing the 2019 elections and improving the country’s electoral process.

Jah said that if Nigeria gets its electoral system right, “the sub-region would be robbed off of the positive.

“Therefore, we hope this meeting will lead to actionable recommendations that will further enhance credible elections in Nigeria,” he said.