INEC reviews 2019 polls

TO ADDRESS lapses recorded in the 2019 general elections, about 200 electoral officers in Oyo State have converged on Ibadan to review the exercise.
The event, which was held at Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office, had relevant stakeholders responsible for the conduct of election in attendance.
The INEC personnel involved in the review included head of departments, electoral officers, returning officers and presiding officers.
The officers who were grouped into seven deliberated on issues of logistics, finances, security, publicity and functionality of card readers used in the 2019 general elections.
In a welcome address, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in Oyo State, Mutiu Agboke said the commission in the state had received many myriads of report from foreign and local observers which would be examined.
Mr. Agboke said the review was expected to provide answers to salient questions which could further enhance 2023 poll.
Mr. Agboke, who attributed success of last poll to cooperation of relevant stakeholders including the media, said the positive response of the electorate as well as their determination to monitor the electoral process enabled the commission to achieve its mandate.
Declaring the workshop open, National INEC Commissioner in charge of Oyo, Osun and Ondo, Chief Adedeji Soyebi noted that Oyo State was one of the few states that do not have rerun elections.
Similarily the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Anambra State, Nkwachukwu Orji, has restated its commitment towards strengthening and deepening electoral processes that will solidify democracy in Nigeria.
The REC said this in a one day post election review workshop of the 2019 general elections in Awka.
According to the commissioner, the review was to reflect and look into the intervening variables that obstructed the expected outcome of the 2019 general elections.
Mr. Orji, who explained that INEC, encountered some challenges both at the institutional and Individual level, which included fire incidents few days to the election and logistic issues, noted that the interactive sessions of the commission would help tackle the threats they faced and prepared them to uphold a free and fair elections next four years without any interference.
The facilitators of the programme, Mrs Priscillia Ezeigwe and Mr. Adayilo Moses from INEC Headquarters Abuja, explained that the objectives and expectations of the 2019 Post Election Review Retreat was to identify success factors in the elections with a view to consolidating and sustaining them, and to review the operational framework put in place by the commission for the 2019 general election.
In his remark, Dr Alex Agbaenyi of the Department of Political Sciences Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, who was one of the Collation Officers during the 2019 general election stated that the inability of party agents to collaborate with INEC official at the polling unit and thuggery was a major challenge that affected the conduct of the election.