From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has admitted that the commission would continue to face challenges in conducting elections if other actors fail to play by the rules or are in sync.
Yakubu, who made the confession, however, tasked Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to extend their scrutiny to activities of political parties and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), to deepen democracy and enhance the conduct of elections in the country.
He spoke when a coalition of CSOs, under the auspices of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, led by its convener, Mr. Yinusa Ya’u, visited him at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Yakubu equally emphasised that though the commission appreciates constructive criticisms as an ingredient for change, it would, however, want all the components of elections to be alright.
Commending the contributions of the civil society community to the steady improvement witnessed in the democratic process and conduct of elections in Nigeria, Yakubu also averred that more needs to be done by the CSOs 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 will continue to face challenges,” he quipped. The INEC boss also highlighted some of the areas, where adjustments by stakeholders in the electoral process are necessary, stressing that “the civil society has been instrumental to the positive changes we are seeing.
“Remember, most of the improvements that you see in the conduct of elections are as a result of the activism of the civil society. But, sometimes, the civil society is quiet about other types of elections,” he noted.
Speaking further, the INEC Chairman underscored the importance of credible party primaries, emphasising that flawed primary elections have a direct negative impact on the entire electoral process since the public would have no choice but to pick from the various candidates that 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,” he argued.
Yakubu also wondered why the civil society appears unperturbed by the conduct of local government elections by the SIECs, noting, “Elections are conducted at the local government level by the SIECs and they declare all the candidates of the ruling party winners.
“Yet, we don’t hear anything from the civil society. At INEC, we appreciate constructive criticisms. 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 the other way,” he said.
The team leader, Yau, in his remarks, said that members of the Civil Society Situation Room share a common interest with INEC in the area of consolidating democracy and the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
He added that the coalition members had been mobilising citizens for Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collection and engaging in campaigns aimed at achieving peaceful polls in Edo State.
Yau also affirmed that the group is also imploring political parties to play by the rules and tell their members not to undermine the electoral process.
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