By: Mercy Peter
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu on Tuesday directed all Resident Electoral Commissioners, (RECs) to submit their work plans on how they intend to enhance voters access to polling unit in their states.
Yakubu gave the directive in his opening remarks at the Commission’s second regular consultative meeting with RECs in Abuja.
Yakubu noted that the directive aimed to improve electoral service delivery and ensure a soft voting process.
The chairman stressed that RECs should implement existing policies and procedures without prompting from the headquarters.
He said,the plan is to cleaning up the voters’ register, deepening engagement with electoral stakeholders, and managing electoral logistics and security.
Yakubu further encouraged RECs to put in effort and ensure successful elections.
Yakubu, who was excited that the Commission now has full compliments of the RECs said: “ I am glad to note that we now have RECs in all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). I wish to remind you that your work does not begin as the General Election approaches. You are full-time Commissioners. There are policy and procedural issues already determined by the Commission which you need to implement without prompting from the Headquarters in Abuja. Some of you are already doing so, but you need to intensify your effort. You do not need an elaborate conference or workshop to build the capacity of your staff to improve on their knowledge of new policies and practical innovations introduced by the Commission to improve electoral service delivery to Nigerians.
“ You also need to provide us with information on your plans to enhance voter access to polling units by decongesting some of them or in other areas such as the cleaning-up of the voters’ register, deepening our engagement with electoral stakeholders at State and Local Government levels, the management of electoral logistics and election security. I wish to remind you that elections and electoral activities take place in the States of the Federation and your role as managers of personnel and resources is critical for success. You can only effectively discharge your responsibilities when you are knowledgeable and committed. I encourage you to intensify your effort so that we will play our part in what is a multi-stakeholder responsibility more effectively.”
