…Proposes early voting for polls workers
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said part of its measures to strengthen the electoral system is to phase out the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), as means of voter identification on election day.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) in Abuja on Thursday, disclosed that 142 areas of amendments were identified from the recommendations contained in the 524-page report on the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The recommendations, according to him, include the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public communication, political parties and candidate management.
Others include electoral operations and logistics management, election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.
“There are eight recommendations that require legislative action by the National Assembly,” he said.
Prof. Yakubu stated that out of this number, 86 of the recommendations require administrative action by the commission, stating that “very soon, the commission will make a presentation to the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Electoral Matters as they continue to deliberate on electoral reform.”
According to him, with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the use of the permanent voters’ cards (PVC) as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on election day should be reviewed.
Though he assured that those who already have the PVCs could still use them to vote, “but going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation.”
The INEC Chairman said this will not only save cost, it will also eliminate the issues around the collection of PVCs and the practice of buying up the cards from voters in order to disenfranchise them.
He disclosed that the commission intends to review the mechanisms for a more effective implementation of agreements on logistics with the transport unions and other service providers, and said INEC will consolidate on its recent experience in Ondo State governorship election.
“Similarly, the commission will step up action on voter access and distribution to polling units.
“As a matter of urgency, the commission also intends to develop protocols for the cleaning up of the voters’ register in collaboration with other agencies such as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the National Population Commission (NPC).
“Other areas of reform include advocacy for affirmative action for greater participation of under-represented groups, a more robust voter education and public communication to combat fake news and misinformation,” he stated.
Prof. Yakubu noted that there were also recommendations in support of diaspora voting, the unbundling of INEC with the establishment of electoral offences tribunal and a separate agency to handle the registration and regulation of political parties.
He further noted that the recommendations noted that INEC officials, security personnel, ad hoc staff, observers and journalists who are deployed outside the places where they registered to vote, do not vote in elections.
Prof. Yakubu stated that the meeting with the RECs was because of their frontline role in the implementation of the recommendations.
The INEC Chairman said that 48 recommendations of the report require action by a variety of stakeholders, including security agencies, mobile network operators, statutory bodies, political parties, transport unions, civil society organisations and the media.
He stated that the meeting with the REC would focus on issues of planning and reform learning from the experience of the 2023 general election.
“Having released our 524-page main report on the election, a copy of which is available on our website, we have consulted widely internally with our own officials and externally with all major stakeholders.
“With the conclusion of five major off-cycle Governorship elections and nine out of 21 bye-elections since the 2023 general election, this is the most appropriate time for us to commence the implementation of the recommendations arising from our review of the general election,” he added.
