…as editors woo electoral umpire for sustainable electoral process
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has said that the commission is empowered by law to clean up the voter registration data for at least a period of one week before the election to add it to the new register .
Yakubu who said this while speaking as Special Guest at the Nigerian Editors Forum in Lagos on Friday explained that the commission is cleaning up the data using appropriate technology to authenticate the voter through finger print, pictures and others,
The new technology he said has succeeded in getting rid of incident form supported by the electoral law.
The INEC Chairman who also revealed that the commission has made preparation for about 45 million people, however drew the attention of the editors to crippling challenges in the conduct of election in the country which include the security situation, and social and economic problems.
According to him, the commission deploys generators during elections to power its facilities adding ” we also provide adhoc staff with water geepee tanks” to areas where there is water scarcity to enable them wash themselves and lamented the horrendous situations which staff go through to conduct election in communities.
He recalled a situation where a staff swam through a stream to conduct election describing the scenario as amazing.
Yakubu who bared his mind on the transparency of the electoral commission under him said that since FEDECO no new polling stations had been added and assured to address the situation before the general elections.
He said INEC is committed to electoral justice which is why it introduced reforms that would take the nation out of the woods .
Yakubu said the improvement of the security situation was key for the smooth conduct of election while
also calling for synergy with the press to avoid misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts.
He added that the commission is on the last lap of preparation for the 2023 general election as it has released the guidelines and timetable for the election saying that final publication of the list of candidates will be made on October 4 while strategies for the collection of the PVCs are being mapped out.
In his welcome remarks, President of the Guild,Mr Mustapha Isah said the forum was designed to prepare editors with the requisite knowledge to play key roles in the coming general elections noting that it was the duty of the media to monitor the conduct of elections.
He said Editors play key roles in the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria as some of them pay the supreme price while others go to jail.and said the guild wished to partner with INEC in the conduct of the 2023 general election.
Isah called on the National Assembly to accelerate the passage of critical electoral bills and commended INEC for the conduct of the recent elections in the country.
He said the recent elections have opened a vista of hope for Nigerians as they are more confident in the electoral process and called on INEC not to disappoint them.
