The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the commission learnt a lot of lessons from the conduct of this year’s general election.
He assured Nigerians that the lessons learnt will guide the commission at ensure that future elections are more credible and better organised.
Yakubu spoke on Sunday at the opening of this year’s post-election review meeting of the commission at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, the Lagos State capital.
Expressing INEC’s determination to continue to improve on the credibility of elections in the country, the chairman said the commission had held 11 meetings with crucial stakeholders since the conclusion of the last elections.
He said: “After the 2019 general election, we are more determined than ever to improve on the quality of elections in Nigeria. We have held 11 meetings in Lagos and Abuja with stakeholders, ranging from INEC officials, political parties, the media, security agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs), among others, as part of efforts to review the last election and learn from it.
“Today’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) is the 12th and concluding one in the process. We have learnt a lot from the conduct of the last general election. Vital lessons have been learnt from our interactions with stakeholders on how we can improve on our efforts.
“In all facets of our duties as an electoral umpire, we are determined to improve on electoral processes in the country, using the lessons we have learnt from the last general election.
“After each election, plans for the next election should promptly begin. That is what we are doing now as we pursue our determination to improve the electoral processes in future.”
INEC’s National Commissioner Dr. Mustapha Lecky said the review meeting was expected to discuss 14 major issues raised from the various meetings with stakeholders.
The participants were expected to proffer solutions they would like to see in the resolutions of the issues raised.
“This is the time to look at what we did well, what we didn’t do well as well as what we didn’t do at all that we need to do. We need to proffer solutions to what was wrongly done in order to improve on the entire process.
“We need to concern ourselves with the needs of people with disabilities as regards voting and participating in elections. There are several issues raised about this, and if we continue to ignore their concerns, they may take us to court and this will affect the next elections.