OBSERVER RECOMMENDATIONS VITAL TO IMPROVING ELECTORAL PROCESS – AMINA BALA ZAKARI

Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Amina Bala Zakari, has lauded the contributions and recommendations of Observer groups to the Commission’s efforts at improving on the successes achieved in the 2015 general elections.  She revealed that the Commission was already factoring some of the recommendations into its strategic plan.

Receiving the Final Report of the European Union nations’ observation mission of the 2015 general elections from the Chief Observer of the European Union Observer Mission, Mr. Santiago Fisas, at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja yesterday, Mrs Zakari explained that the Commission had not rested on its oars in improving the electoral process.

She said: “we have already started implementing some of the recommendations because after the election we held a post-election retreat and some of these issues did come up and we have commenced working towards implementing some of the recommendations”.

The Acting Chairman explained that the Commission has already set up Committees to address some areas of its work that would bring about the needed improvement in the electoral process. Some of the areas she mentioned are: Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), ad-hoc staff recruitment and management, legal and petition matters and logistics.

While assuring the EU Chief Observer that the Commission would incorporate the recommendations that were within the Commission’s purview, Mrs. Amina Zakari expressed optimism that with INEC’s prompting, the Nigerian government would address the recommendations that required legal review.

She called for continued partnership and support from the EU to continue delivering credible elections in Nigeria.

Earlier, Mr. Santiago Fisas had explained that the EU-Observer report was painstakingly put together and had recommendations for the Nigerian government, INEC and other stakeholders in the electoral process.

He informed the Acting Chairman of the Commission that the final EU Observer report had earlier been presented to President Muhammadu Buhari, who expressed delight and gave assurances that it would be looked into.

Of the 30 recommendations made in the report, 8 are assessed to require amendments to the Constitution, and 11 are considered to require changes in primary legislation. For a further 6 recommendations, it would be desirable to have the suggested changes secured in law.