The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun the review of logistics deployment and other critical issues on the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
This came up on Wednesday when the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu met with its Electoral Officers (EOs) and transport unions in Abuja.
Prof Yakubu said logistics deployment was key component of every election, adding that the commission had to liaise with its field officers and transport service providers to review logistic arrangements during the 2023 general poll.
He said the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN).
“There is no doubt that the success of any election primarily depends on the ability to deploy personnel and materials to various locations.
“In Nigeria, this involves the biggest logistic deployment the nation periodically undertakes across vast terrains and often difficult topography.
“This has been a perennial challenge over time but is now compounded by issues of infrastructure and insecurity.
“However, the Commission has to deploy personnel and materials not only for Election Day activities but electoral activities in general covering the period before, during and after the elections.
“Many of these activities such as the Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), monitoring of party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the election.
“The procurement and deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials must be accomplished ahead of the election otherwise critical election day processes will be impossible,” Yakubu said.
He said the meeting would provide an opportunity to interact on 10 critical areas highlighted for discussion including the general state of preparedness for the general election; voter’s registration process and the associated issues, clean-up of voter register, Permanent Voter Cards collection.
The Chairman, Planning, Monitoring and Strategic Committee (PMSC) Prof. Rhoda Gumus said the decision to organise the meeting became imperative after the successful conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Gumus said that the meeting would undertake a comprehensive post-election review to learn critical lessons for future elections.
According to her, the meeting would attend to the questions of “how far and how well” INEC, the EOs and transportat unions performed in their respective duties during the elections.
“As field workers, we expect to hear from you the challenges encountered and how you resolved them in the field.
“Your key recommendations of this review exercise will enhance deployment and reverse logistics in our electoral operations,” she said.
