By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of the 2023 general elections will be ready next week.
This much was disclosed by the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood
Yakubu in Abuja on Wednesday at the Second Quarterly Meeting with Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs) at the INEC Headquarters, Abuja.
Yakubu told the CSOs that there are many progressive provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which require clear understanding to guide implementation.
Said he: “Beyond the conduct of primaries by political parties, the Commission is required to make Regulations and Guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Electoral Act. These Regulations and Guidelines, together with the Constitution and the Electoral Act, constitute the electoral legal framework that govern the conduct of elections.
“I am glad to report that the Commission will finalise the Regulations and Guidelines next week to guide the conduct of future elections, including the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections as well as the 2023 General Election.”
The INEC Chairman reiterated that: “There are many progressive provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which require clear understanding to guide implementation. One of such provisions is the electronic transmission of election results.
Said he: “At this meeting, we will discuss the implementation of the provisions of Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022 regarding the management of election results.”
However Yakubu told the CSOs that: “Section 54(2) of the Electoral Act makes provision for assistive materials for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), pointing out that “this is another progressive provision of the new Electoral Act”.
According to him: “Over the years, we have worked with the disability community in designing some of the assistive materials such as the Braille Ballot Guide and the provision of magnifying glasses for visually challenged voters and posters for the deaf. We are also working together to collect disaggregated data for PWDs to assist the Commission in optimally deploying the assistive materials”
“To deepen our collaboration, a meeting will be convened as early as next week with the disability community to discuss the implementation of the provisions of the new Electoral Act on inclusivity”, Yakubu revealed.
Meanwhile, INEC has said that the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will end on June 30, 2022 just as both the online pre-registration as well as the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously.
However, INEC said online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers and for this reason, the Commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks (May 30, 2022).
According to INEC boss, “this will enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on June 30, 2022. This will enable the Commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General Election”.
On election technology, Yakubu told the CSOs that INEC has reviewed the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) following the complaints received after the recent Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held on February 12, 2022.
Said he: “Two weeks later, the Commission conducted six bye-elections in four States across four geo-political zones of the country covering rural, sub-urban and urban areas. It was the most extensive geo-political deployment of the BVAS since it was pioneered in the Isoko South I State Constituency bye-election in Delta State in June last year. In these bye-elections, the BVAS functioned optimally as attested to by the reports of your field observers accredited by the Commission”.
“The lessons learnt from the most recent bye-elections have been taken into consideration as we prepare for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections. The Commission has just finished the configuration of the BVAS for the Ekiti State Governorship election. We will also undertake a mock voter accreditation exercise in Ekiti State ahead of the main election on June 18, 2022, the details of which will be announced shortly”.
