The Hon. Chairman INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to broaden their oversight to include the activities of Political Parties and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). He emphasized that such efforts are essential to strengthening democracy and improving the quality of elections in Nigeria.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made this appeal during a visit by a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations under the aegis of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room. The delegation led by its convener, Mr. Yinusa Z. Ya’u visited the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, 4th September 2024.
While acknowledging the valuable contributions of civil society to the ongoing improvements in Nigeria’s democratic process and the conduct of elections, Prof. Yakubu averred that more work remains. He therefore urged CSOs to intensify efforts towards engaging other stakeholders to further strengthen democratic practices.
He declared: “No matter what INEC does, if other actors are not ready to play by the rules or in sync we’ll continue to face challenges.
Highlighting some of the areas where adjustments by stakeholders in the electoral process are necessary, the INEC Chairman said: “The civil society has been instrumental to the positive changes we are seeing. Remember, most of the improvements that you see in the conduct of elections are as a result of the activism of the civil society. But sometimes, civil society is quiet about other (types of) elections.”
The INEC Chairman emphasized the critical role of credible party primaries, stressing that flawed primaries have a negative ripple effect on the entire electoral process. He pointed out that the public is ultimately left with candidates who emerge from these primaries, stating further: “Take the conduct of party primaries for instance, political parties conduct primary elections (and) INEC conducts secondary elections. So, the most important process is actually the primaries conducted by political parties. It is the candidates they present that we put on the ballot. Citizens can only choose from the candidates presented by political parties.”
Prof. Yakubu also expressed concern about the apparent lack of attention from civil society towards the conduct of local government elections by the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). In his words: “Elections are conducted at the Local Government level by the SIECs, and they declare all the candidates of the ruling party winners. Yet, we don’t hear anything from civil society.
At INEC, we appreciate constructive criticism. It is an ingredient for change. But we want all the components of elections to be alright. We can not have one component going right and another going another way.”
In his remarks, the Team Leader, Mr. Yau highlighted that the Civil Society Situation Room shares a mutual goal with INEC in strengthening democracy and ensuring credible elections in Nigeria. He noted that the coalition has been actively mobilizing citizens to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and conducting campaigns to promote peaceful elections in Edo State.
Additionally, he affirmed that the group has been urging political parties to adhere to the rules and cautioning their members against actions that could compromise the electoral process.
The INEC Chairman, accompanied by National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission, and other senior management officials welcomed the delegation
