In a bid to ensure continuous improvement and enhance Nigeria’s electoral process, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed its plans to undertake a comprehensive review of the conduct of the 2023 general election.
The electoral body said it aims to learn valuable lessons from the last elections and chart a clear path forward for future polls.
The announcement came after INEC’s regular weekly meeting on Thursday, where the Commission agreed to keep to its tradition of conducting thorough analysis of the electoral process to identify areas of success and areas that require improvement.
Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner for Voter Education, said the review seeks to evaluate all aspects of the election, including logistics, technology, voter education, security, and overall administrative processes.
“The review will involve the Commission’s officials at National and State levels as well as stakeholders with a view to learning lessons and charting the way forward.
“The review will commence with a meeting of the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on 4th July 2023 and end with the Commission’s retreat on 5th August 2023.
“At State level, the internal review will involve the Commission’s regular and ad hoc staff, including RECs, the 774 Electoral Officers, Heads of Departments, Administrative Secretaries as well as some Presiding Officers and Collation/Returning Officers,” said Okoye.
He added, “The external engagement will involve critical stakeholders such as political parties, security agencies, election observers, the media and service providers such as transporters that facilitated the movement of personnel and materials for the election.
“The review will focus on all aspects of the electoral activities before, during and after the elections. Specifically, the Commission welcomes actionable recommendations from stakeholders towards strengthening institutional capacity for the discharge of its responsibilities and the enhancement of processes and procedures.
“Detailed schedule of activities and timelines will be released immediately after the meeting with RECs on 4th July 2023.”