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Iheanacho Nwosu And Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has assured the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) that it would implement, to the letter, its recommendations and reports on the 2019 general elections.
Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, gave the promise when he hosted the Chief Observer of the Mission in the 2019 General Elections, Maria Arena-led delegation at the headquarters of the commission.
Noting that the observers interacted with many stakeholders and issued several preliminary statements on various aspects of the electoral process, he recalled that in one of such statements released immediately after the Governorship elections, the Chief Observer noted that, “as the 2019 elections in Nigeria demonstrated, there are important improvements to be made. Elections can always be better”.
“Every election in any democracy around the world is work in progress,” Yakubu added. “We therefore look forward to the full EU EOM report and recommendations on the elections. We are confident that there will be useful lessons for the Commission as we prepare for future elections. Indeed, the report is coming at the right time as it will feed into our ongoing review of the conduct of the elections.”
The EU, he noted, has been part of Nigeria’s steady progress towards democratic consolidation since 1999. “The observations and recommendations of the EU Election Observation Mission to the 2015 general elections were particularly useful not only in the design of some important proposals for reforming the electoral legal framework, but also in improving our electoral processes and procedures,” he said.
“Let me assure you that the Commission will again quickly focus attention on the electoral legal framework in addition to several other areas of reform. We will study in detail all your recommendations, as part of our ongoing internal review of the 2019 general elections, which we hope to conclude in the next two months.
“Immediately thereafter, we shall engage with the leadership of the 9th National Assembly on areas that require legislation while implementing aspects of the reform within the powers of the Commission in full consultation with stakeholders. There is so much work to do but little time ahead of us,” he added.
The head of delegation, Arena, announced that the Mission will soon present reports and recommendations for the 2019 general elections in Abuja.
