INEC Holds Meeting with EOs to Review the 2023 General Election
On July 19th, 2023, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other Commission members convened a meeting with Electoral Officers (EO) to conduct a thorough review of the 2023 General Election.
During the meeting, Prof. Yakubu expressed his pleasure in welcoming everyone and highlighted that the review process had already commenced at the State level with regular staff and ad hoc officials participating.
Today’s meeting marks a more focused engagement at the national level with INEC’s frontline officials, the Electoral Officers (EOs). In addition, the Commission reached out to transport providers, inviting the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, the National Association of Road Transport Owners, and the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria to review logistic arrangements.
Deploying personnel and materials to various locations is crucial for the success of any election. In Nigeria, it poses a significant logistical challenge due to the vast terrains and difficult topography, further exacerbated by infrastructure and security issues.
However, INEC must ensure the deployment of personnel and materials throughout the electoral period, including activities like Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), monitoring party primaries, and procuring and deploying sensitive and non-sensitive materials. Failure to accomplish these tasks ahead of the election would render critical Election Day processes impossible.
The meeting presents an opportunity to discuss various themes, with a focus on ten critical areas:
i) General State of Preparedness for the 2023 General Election
ii) Voters Registration Process
iii) Recruitment, training, deployment, and remuneration of ad hoc staff, including specific issues like mode of recruitment, conduct of training, timing, adequacy, effectiveness and utility of e-learning training platforms, and strategy for efficient payment of ad hoc staff.
