The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to extend their scrutiny to the activities of Political Parties and state independent electoral commissions (SIECs) to deepen democracy and enhance the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave this charge when a coalition of civil society organisations, under the aegis of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, led by its convener, Yinusa Ya’u, paid a visit to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja
Yakubu commended CSOs for their commitment to the steady improvement witnessed in the democratic process and conduct of elections in Nigeria and enjoined them to get other stakeholders more committed to deepening democracy.
“No matter what INEC does, if other actors are not ready to play by the rules or in sync, we’ll face challenges. Civil society has been instrumental in the positive changes we are seeing.
“Remember, most of the improvements that you see in the conduct of elections result from the civil society’s activism. But sometimes, the civil society is quiet about other (types of) elections,” he said.
The INEC Chairman emphasised 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 but to choose from the various candidates who emerged from such primaries.
“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.
“Elections are conducted at the local government level by the SIECs, and they declare that all the candidates of the ruling party are winners. Yet, we don’t hear anything from civil society. At INEC, we appreciate constructive criticism. 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,” Yakubu added.
In his remarks, the team leader said members of the Civil Society Situation Room share a common interest with INEC in consolidating democracy and conducting elections in Nigeria.
He said the coalition members had been mobilising citizens for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) and engaging in campaigns to achieve peaceful elections in Edo state.
Ya’u stated that the group also implored political parties to play by the rules and tell their members not to undermine the electoral process.
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