2015: INEC to intensify consultations with stakeholders

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will intensify consultations and interactions with critical stakeholders ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The acting Chairman of INEC, Ishmael Igbani, said this in an address at a one-day knowledge sharing workshop with Publicity Secretaries and Deputy National Publicity Secretaries of political parties organized by INEC with the support of Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) project held at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, last week.

While declaring the workshop open, Dr. Ishmael Igbani said “this is in line with the Commission’s continuing resolve to embark on a series of regular engagements with critical stakeholders as we intensify our preparations for the conduct of the 2015 general elections”.

At the workshop tagged “The Optimization of the Voter Register, Continuous Voter Registration and Permanent Voters’ card”, Igbani gave an overview of the Commission’s preparation for 2015 general elections which he said began immediately after the 2011 general elections.

“These regular meetings have proved very useful in assisting the Commission bridge the communication gaps that hitherto existed and have also gone a long way in smoothening INEC’s relationship with stake holders through the provision of regular briefings and updates on its activities and programs”, he said.

According to him, some incremental progress made by the Commission thus far include, gathering of data for the review of delimitation of constituencies, works towards provision of real time result collation come 2015, publishing of election monitoring and observation guideline on the Commission’s website.

Others, according to him, were continued Inter-agency consultations with critical stakeholders to bridge communication gaps, deployment of Election Risk Management Tool, review of the Commission’s Communication policy guideline, among others.

The acting chairman further informed participants that the voter register optimization and cleaning to remove multiple registration is in its second stage at the state and national levels, saying it is aimed at eliminating any possible cases of inter-state multiple registration.