The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmoud, has assured Nigerians that the 2019 elections will be a remarkable improvement from the one conducted in 2015.
To ensure that the goal is achieved, the INEC boss said the commission is coming up with new reforms and innovations that will improve the electoral process and deepen the nation’s democratic process.
He gave the assurance in Kaduna State during a communication policy review workshop organised for State Resident Electoral Commissioners and other top officials of the commission in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
The meeting offered stakeholders the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the strategies put in place for the Continuous Voter Registration exercise across the 774 Local Government Area offices nationwide.
It also gave the stakeholders the opportunity to review the new reforms and policies that were introduced since the 2015 general election.
One of such policies is the viability or otherwise of fielding an independent candidate and giving women more opportunities to vie for political offices.
The guest speaker, Professor Ralhp Akinfeleye of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, advised INEC not to take the 2019 election for granted.
Rather, he called on INEC to come up with a very strong and clear new communications policy to control election processes that would guarantee a credible exercise.
On his part, the INEC chairman explained that the reason why the commission announced the dates of the 2019 general elections ahead was to enable it to plan properly.
In view of the numerous challenges that have confronted the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the country, stakeholders said programmes on strategic planning such as the one in Kaduna would perhaps improve the nation’s electoral system where the will of the electorate will count.
