By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
As part of its on-going Review Process of the 2023 General Election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday in Abuja met with Collation/Returning Officers during the election under review to discuss issues of concerning the last elections, including those raised by some Nigerians with regards to the result management.
The meeting which was attended by the 36 and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) State Collation Officers for Presidential Elections (SCOPE), and Returning Officers for the Senatorial District elections, was held at Abuja Continental Hotel.
In his Remarks, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu while explaining the purpose of the meeting, said the Commission’s expectation was that the meeting would help identify areas of strength and weaknesses as well as necessary reforms.
Said he: “present here today are the 37 State Collation Officers for the Presidential Election (SCOPEs). Many of you also doubled as Returning Officers for the 28 Governorship elections. For legislative elections, we invited, across the six geo-political zones of the country, the Senatorial District Collation Officers, who also doubled as Returning Officers for senatorial elections.
“It is practically unmanageable to invite all the collation and returning officers for 1,462 federal and state constituencies made up of 109 Senatorial Districts as well as 360 Federal and 993 State Houses of Assembly constituencies. We therefore focused on the Senatorial Districts since they are bigger and cut across the other constituencies.”
Yakubu commended the Returning and Collation Officers for their doggedness in the face of daunting challenges faced in the course of discharging their duties.
According to him: “the Commission is aware that as Collation and Returning Officers, you worked under extremely challenging circumstances by tediously and manually completing designated forms as provided by law and either moved them to the next level of collation or concluded the processes as Returning Officers.”
“Many of you also have the cognate experience of result management, having served in similar capacities in at least three electoral cycles. The Commission appreciates your commitment, dedication to duty and sacrifice to the cause of our democracy.”
Speaking further on Result management, the INEC Chairman noted that “issues have arisen and some Nigerians have raised concerns about result management at various levels. While some of the issues are subject of litigations and therefore sub judice, we can nevertheless discuss them broadly and most importantly share experience on the way forward”.
He identified 7 key areas of the 2023 General Election which the Commission sought the contribution of the participants on. They include; recruitment, training and posting of collation and Returning Officers; logistics for movement to and from your places of assignment; and the integrity of the collation and declaration procedure, including the application of the law, regulations and guidelines for election result management.
Other areas identified by Yakubu are; The Role of Technology in Result Management; Security of Collation/Returning Officers and the Collation Centres; Conduct of party agents and election observers during
collation; Conduct of security personnel; and any other lessons that will improve the future collation and declaration of results.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the Chairman, Planning, Monitoring and Strategic Committee, (PMSC) and National Commissioner, Professor Rhoda Gumus, said the State Collation Officers for Presidential Elections (SCOPEs) and Senatorial District Collation Officers (SDROs) are key players in conducting elections in Nigeria.
She noted that the Commission employ these categories of personnel; lecturers and Vice Chancellors from the Federal Universities, “that have honesty and integrity to carry out this function, on Election Day”.
While urging the participants at the review meeting to contribute freely and meaningfully towards improving future elections, Prof. Gumus said “as part of field personnel on election day, you deal directly with both INEC staff and political gladiators; mostly in a violence atmosphere.
“There is no doubt that you have acquired wealth of experience in discharging your duties, during collation and declaration of results, which come with issues, challenges and lessons learnt.”
“As field workers, we expect to hear from you the challenges encountered and how you resolved them in the field bearing in mind that your key recommendations on this review exercise will definitely enhance the Commission in planning for future elections.”, she added.
