The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said it was taking necessary steps towards implementing recommendations of European Union (EU) 2015 Elections Observation Report.
The commission’s daily bulletin issued on Monday indicated that its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this when EU Parliament Democracy Support and Election Coordination group visited him in Abuja
Yakubu said that INEC was also collaborating with the National Assembly to ensure that recommendations which needed legal and constitutional amendments were addressed ahead of the 2019 general elections.
“We have studied the 2015 General Elections Observation Report of the EU carefully and we have itemized 30 of the recommendations from the Report.
“Some of them require some administrative action from the commission and where we can implement some of these recommendations, we have already started implementing them,” he said.
He said that some of the recommendations already being implemented by the commission included simultaneous accreditation and voting and Continuous Voter Registration.
Also implemented, according to the chairman, are cleaning-up of the Voter Register, sustained consultation with stakeholders, collation and transmission of results and improving the functionality of the Smart Card Reader.
He, however, pointed out that the bulk of EU recommendations bordered on Constitutional and legal amendments.
“These are outside the control of the commission, but we have had a very good working relationship with both the Senate and the House of Representatives,” he said.
He added that the Senate had gone very far with the amendment of the Electoral Act and that INEC had benefited substantially from the recommendations that EU made for legal amendments.
He said that INEC was committed to strengthening and deepening democratic process, adding that the commission was committed to implementing all the recommendations.
He thanked the EU and its member-countries for their technical support as well as strategic plans.
The bulletin quoted the leader of the delegation, Mr Santiago Fisas, as commending INEC for the feat it achieved in the 2015 general polls.
Fisas said that the elections were not only accepted in Europe but globally.
He said that the visit was to build a special relationship with the commission and to exchange good practices and ideas, adding that it was a follow up to the recommendations. (NAN)