The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it would conduct the 2019 Post-Election Review exercise in May and June, this year.
The Commission also fixed November 2 for the conduct of governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said this Tuesday night in separate statements at the end of the commission’s meeting in Abuja
On the planned 2019 post-election review, Okoye said the commission approved a proposal to conduct an extensive review and debriefing on the 2019 general elections, in line with its existing practice.
According to him, this is intended to evaluate the commission’s performance of the key activities of the General Elections, with a view to addressing identified challenges and strengthening operational and institutional capacities to conduct free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
“The review will focus on the planning, organization, conduct and coordination of the general elections, particularly on the following: Logistics, procurement and deployment of personnel and materials; Continuous Voter Registration and Collection of permanent voter’s cards; Legal environment of the elections, particularly the legal challenges experienced over nomination of candidates and conduct of elections.
“Processes of party registration, party primaries and nomination of candidates; Quality of ad hoc staff; Relationship between the Commission and diverse stakeholders, including political parties, security agencies, civil society organizations, the media and development partners; and Quality of inclusivity of the elections, particularly regarding persons with disability, IDPs and gender balance,” he said.
He added that two sets of activities are envisaged in the reviews with internal reviews involving National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners, Electoral Officers, Collation and Returning Officers, as well as other key staff of the commission.
The other, he said, is the review meetings with key stakeholders such as political parties, civil society organizations, security agencies, the media and development partners.
He said these reviews and debriefing will take place between May and June 2019.
He added, “The commission has commenced work on a comprehensive report of the 2019 general elections and has mandated its Electoral Institute to undertake detailed researches into various aspects of the elections. It is the commission’s hope that the outcomes of these reviews and studies will feed into further electoral reforms and its preparations for impending and future elections.”
