2023 Polls:  Insecurity, Infrastructure, Logistics Hindered Us – INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has met with its electoral officers as part of its review of the 2023 general election.

This is even as the commission noted that the success of any election primarily depends on the ability to deploy personnel and materials to various locations, however, in Nigeria, this involves the biggest logistic deployment the nation periodically undertakes across vast terrains and often difficult topography.

INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the post-election review meeting with electoral officers, said the menace has been a perennial challenge over time but it is now compounded by issues of infrastructure and insecurity.

At the event, Yakubu said the occasion signaled the commencement of a more focused engagement at national level with the commission’s frontline officials.

He said, “We also considered it appropriate to interface with transport providers to review logistic arrangements by inviting the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers NURTW, the National Association of Road Transport Owners NARTO and the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria MWUN.

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“There is no doubt that the success of any election primarily depends on the ability to deploy personnel and materials to various locations. In Nigeria, this involves the biggest logistic deployment the nation periodically undertakes across vast terrains and often difficult topography.

“This has been a perennial challenge over time but is now compounded by issues of infrastructure and insecurity. However, the Commission has to deploy personnel and materials not only for Election Day activities but electoral activities in general covering the period before, during and after the elections.

“Many of these activities such as the Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), monitoring of party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the election and the procurement and deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials must be accomplished ahead of the election otherwise critical Election Day processes will be impossible.”

According to him, the meeting therefore provides an opportunity to interact on a wide range of themes covering ten critical areas.

The areas to be covered include; “General State of Preparedness for the 2023 General Election; Voters Registration Process and the associated issues of Adequacy of Timing, Display of Voter Register for Claims and Objections, Clean-up of Voter Register, PVC Collection etc.

“Recruitment, training, deployment and remuneration of ad hoc staff, including specific issues of mode of recruitment, conduct of training, timing, adequacy, effectiveness and utility of e-learning training platforms, and strategy for efficient payment of ad hoc staff.

“Matters arising from the implementation of the expansion of voter access to Polling Units; Receipt and deployment of election materials;

“Technology during elections including the various portals for nomination of ad hoc staff, candidates, accreditation of observers, media, polling/collation agents as well as voter registration, accreditation and result management;

“Election security; Election Day processes with reference to: Forward logistics in terms of transportation of personnel and delivery of materials to Registration Area Centres (RACs) and Polling Units (PUs), including specific issues of engagement with transport unions and the implementation of State-level obligations; and

“Reverse logistics and movement of personnel and retrieval of field assets.

“Inventory of election materials, particularly the status and storage of reusable assets such as ballot boxes, voting cubicles and electric power generators etc.; and physical conditions of storage and other immovable facilities.

“Similarly, in line with the Commission’s policy, when the review engagements are completed, a comprehensive report will be prepared. I therefore urge you to lend your wealth of experience to the discussions in order to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses for immediate improvement in forthcoming elections, especially the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled to hold on Saturday 11th November 2023”, he stated.