By UZOMA ODUIGWE, Editorial Consultant

Concerned stakeholders who believe in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)'s capability to organise credible elections in the country come the next dispensation, have identified good time management, as against logistics materials' provision as the way forward, come future elections in Nigeria.

Rising from a recent "retreat," put together by INEC with concerned stakeholders like lawmakers, who have field experience as well as practising politicians, and top members of the Commission saddled with the constitutional responsibility of organizing elections in Nigeria in attendance, the body took a clinical look at Nigeria's efforts at good electioneering deliveries in the past, particularly those related to election management.

Recalling a similar retreat organized some 5 years ago here in Lagos, March 2020 to be specific which involved INEC and the two Committees of the National Assembly (NASS) on Electoral Matters, the gathering. were told that that event among many other initiatives, resulted in the repeal and re-enactment of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), and that the result is the current Electoral Act 2022.

According to Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, at the 1-day retreat which took place recently at the Protea Hotel GRA Ikeja, "the coming together of lawmakers, who also have field experience as practising politicians, and the Commission as the election management body saddled with the constitutional responsibility of organizing, undertaking and supervising all elections in Nigeria (except the local government elections) is a positive development for electoral reform in Nigeria.

"We believe that a retreat such as this one provides a focused engagement and a better insight into the challenges of election management beyond what can be achieved in a few hours of public hearing in a Committee Room at the National Assembly," he told the audience.

The INEC boss said the perennial problem in the conduct of elections in Nigeria has been the postponement of the dates fixed for General Elections on two occasions since 2011 as a result of logistics challenges associated with the production and delivery of sensitive materials, saying however that "the present Commission was determined to change the embarrassing narrative."

He said: "After a thorough review, we came to the conclusion that the problem was not one of technical capacity. Nigerian printers have the capacity to meet our needs. The real challenge was time management. Under the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), the Commission had just 60 days between the conclusion of party primaries and the conduct of the General Election to know which political party was fielding candidates in each of the 1,491 seats made up of 1 presidential constituency, 28 governorship, 109 senatorial, 360 federal and 993 state constituencies.

"We need the information for customization of the ballot papers and results sheets. Moreover, the Voters' Register, which is the basis for planning the procurement of sensitive materials, has been increasing with every election by an average of 10 million new voters from 2011 to the last election in 2023.

"The solution was to amend the Electoral Act to provide for more time between party primaries and the nomination of candidates on the one hand and the dates fixed for the election on the other. The Commission initially asked for one year, which was not favourably considered by the lawmakers who eventually settled for the current 180 days," he informed.

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