Politics
By Kennedy Nnamani
THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja on Monday, welcomed the representatives of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, UNOWAS.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, in his remark, welcomed Giovanie Biha, the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel and Chair of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, noting that her visit was part of the long-standing relationship with UNOWAS in particular and the United Nations in general.
He recalled that in the same way, the commission had hosted Mohamed Ibn Chambas and Mahamat Saleh Annadif, two predecessors before Biha.
According to Prof. Yakubu, the Secretary-General deployed the United Nations Needs Assessment Mission, NAM, to Nigeria in addition to the sustained support in the areas of voter education, capacity-building and support to the Nigerian Election Monitoring Support Centre, EMSC, through the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.
While appreciating the efforts of UNOWAS in preventive diplomacy, political mediation and facilitation in West Africa and the Sahel, which are critical conditions for peace, the INEC boss noted that the Election Management Bodies are major beneficiaries of these efforts as elections and electoral activities cannot be successfully conducted in an atmosphere of violence.
In the same vein, Prof. Yakubu noted that Electoral Commissions in West Africa and beyond have expressed concern about the impact of prevailing insecurity on the conduct of elections, particularly with regard to insurgency, banditry and other forms of armed conflict.
He therefore disclosed that a 9-nation conference of Electoral Commissions and election experts is expected to hold within the week in Ouagadougou involving Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Expressing optimism on the visit, the chairman of the electoral umpire stated that it will “not only encourage us in our determination to conduct credible, transparent, inclusive and verifiable elections but we will also share the outcome of our discussion with colleagues from other electoral commissions in West Africa and beyond.”
While reiterating the commitment of the commission to the forthcoming election, INEC assured that it will conduct free, fair and credible polls.
“We assure you that the Commission will not fail the nation and the international community.
“We will continue to make incremental improvements to our electoral process supported by the deployment of appropriate and relevant technology that will make voter accreditation and result management more credible and transparent,” Yakubu said.
A.I
Tags: Giovanie Biha INEC Kennedy Nnamani Mahamat Saleh Annadif Mohamed Ibn Chambas Prof. Mahmood Yakubu UNOWAS
