The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has urged Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, to engage with political parties and observe their primary elections being conducted in preparation for the off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the advice at the first quarterly consultative meeting with civil society organisations, CSOs, for 2024 held in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Yakubu said by doing so, CSOs will strengthen their advocacy for inclusivity for groups such as women, youths and Persons with Disability, PwD, that are under-represented in elective offices at national and state levels.
He disclosed that so far, 16 political parties have indicated interest in participating in the Ondo State election.
The INEC Chairman reassured the CSOs that the commission will continue to partner with them, even as he appreciated the observations and recommendations contained in their election observation reports.
Yakubu added that some of the reforms and innovations introduced by the commission over the years draw from observation reports of the CSOs.
He, however, noted that some accredited observers are yet to submit reports on the general election, supplementary elections, off-cycle elections, bye-elections and re-run elections.
“May I therefore seize this opportunity to remind those that are yet to submit their observation reports that it is mandatory to do so being one of the conditions for eligibility to observe future elections. Going forward, the Commission will operate strictly on the policy of “No Observation Report, No Accreditation,” he warned.
Speaking on the Edo State election, he said as Wednesday morning, eight parties had uploaded the list and personal particulars of their candidates to INEC’s dedicated web portal.
He stated that the commission expects the other parties will do so before the deadline of 6pm on 24th March 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down.
“Thereafter, the Commission will publish the personal particulars of the candidates (Form EC9) on 31st March 2024 for public scrutiny as required by law,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of all CSOs present, the Executive Director of Sustainable Gender Action Initiative, Mufuliat Fijabi, stressed the importance of an inclusive election which reflects representation of all Nigerians especially women.
Fijabi also noted the importance of providing feedback by way of electoral reports to have a robust electoral process in the country.
