By Gabriel Ameh, The Sight News
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has tasked Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to extend their scrutiny to activities of Political Parties and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), in order to deepen democracy and enhance the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
He made the call when a coalition of civil society organisations, under the aegis of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, led by its convener, Mr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u paid a visit to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday 4th September 2024.
While commending the contributions of the civil society community to the steady improvement witnessed in the democratic process and conduct of elections in Nigeria, Prof. Yakubu also averred that more needs to be done by the CSOs to get other stakeholders more committed to deepening democracy.
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 civil society. But sometimes, the civil society is quiet about other (types of) elections.”
The INEC Chairman underscored the importance of credible party primaries, insisting that flawed primary elections have a direct negative impact on the entire electoral process since the public would have no choice than to pick from the various candidates that emerged from such primaries.
He explained: “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 wondered why the civil society appears unperturbed by the conduct of local government elections by the SIECs. 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 criticisms. It is an ingredient for change. But we want all the components of elections to be alright. We cannot have one component going right and another going another way.”
The Team Leader, Ya’u in his remarks, noted that members of the Civil Society Situation Room share a common interest with INEC in the area of consolidating democracy and the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
He said the coalition members had been mobilizing citizens for Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection and engaging in campaigns aimed at achieving peaceful polls in Edo state. He affirmed that the group is also imploring political parties to play by the rules and tell their members not to undermine the electoral process.
The INEC Chairman was joined by National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Rose Oriaran-Anthony, and other senior management members of the Commission to receive the delegation.
