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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has admitted that insecurity and infrastructure combined to compound its logistics deployment during the 2023 general election.
Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, made the confession in his remarks at a post election review meeting with the Electoral Officers and Leaders of Transport Unions held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Yakubu disclosed that the situation was worsened by the commission deploying personnel and materials not only for Election Day activities but electoral activities in general covering the period before, during and after the elections.
According to him; “There is no doubt that the success of any election primarily depends on the ability to deploy personnel and materials to various locations. In Nigeria, this involves the biggest logistic deployment the nation periodically undertakes across vast terrains and often difficult topography.
“This has been a perennial challenge over time but it is now compounded by issues of infrastructure and insecurity. However, the Commission has to deploy personnel and materials not only for Election Day activities but electoral activities in general covering the period before, during and after the elections,” he said.
On the purpose of the meeting, he said: “Today, we commence a more focused engagement at national level with the commission’s frontline officials, the Electoral Officers (EOs). We also considered it appropriate to interface with transport providers to review logistic arrangements by inviting the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN).”
“Similarly, in line with the commission’s policy, when the review engagements are completed, a comprehensive report will be prepared. I therefore urge you to lend your wealth of experience to the discussions in order to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses for immediate improvement in forthcoming elections, especially the three off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled to hold on Saturday 11th November 2023,” he said.
The chairman, Planning, Monitoring and Strategic Committee, Rhoda Gumus, in establishing the purpose of the review said: “We are here to undertake a comprehensive post-election review, and to learn critical lessons for future Elections.
“We are aware, that the just concluded 2023 general election involved the nationwide deployment of both personnel and quantity of materials to the State offices, Local Government Areas, Wards, and polling Units, across the length and breadth of the country.
“The Electoral officers are the field workers of the Commission, on election day, who undertake leadership functions at the LGA levels. We have no doubt that the electoral officers have demonstrated their wealth of experience gained during series of training.
“Today, we are here to attend to the question of “How far and how well” we performed in our respective duties during the election. As field workers, we expect to hear from you the challenges encountered and how you resolved them in the field.
Your key recommendations of this review exercise will enhance deployment and reverse logistics in our electoral operations,” she said.
