INEC achieves 76 % performance of 2012 -2016 strategic plan

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said it achieved 76 per cent performance in the implementation of its 2012-2016 Strategic Plan.

Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at the presentation of INEC’s Draft 2017-2021 Strategic Plan to stakeholders at a Validation Conference in Abuja.

“The commission carried out over 4,000 activities classified as pre-election, election and post-election tasks in the electoral cycle spread across seven functional areas designated as `principal business areas’.

“These functional areas are Election Day Logistics (EDL), Election Staff Management (ESM), Political Parties and Candidate Management (PPM), Election Day Training (EDT), Election Day Procurement (EDP), Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Election Day Support (EDS).

“The commission fully or partially implemented 76 per cent of planned activities during the plan period,’’ he said.
The chairman, however, identified some challenges recorded by the commission during the period.

He said that one of the challenges was that the Bill to amend the Electoral Act was passed too close to the 2015 general elections and did not contain key provisions proposed by the commission.

The proposal, according to him, includes diaspora voting, power of INEC to disqualify candidates who do not meet criteria for elections and provisions on constituency delimitation.

Yakubu said that other challenges were failure of smart card readers in some places and increase in the number of voters who were accredited but did not.

He also listed INEC’s lack of capacity to effectively monitor political parties, especially campaign financing, enforcement of internal democracy in the parties and inter-departmental conflict in the implementation of some activities.

He disclosed that the development of the 2017-2021 strategic plan was guided by the review of the 2012-2016 version, and that it was to provide a new direction for INEC.

The chairman said that the plan intended to consolidate on the gains of the previous strategic plan with emphasis on certain areas.

According to him, INEC will establish a prosecution unit staffed by trained prosecutors to facilitate quicker and more efficient prosecution of electoral offences.

He said that the step would facilitate more effective prosecution, reduce impunity and enhance deterrence, adding that priority would be given to re-orientation of staff, change management, mobilsation and effective utilization of resources.

Presenting the strategic plan, a Consultant to the commission, Dr Otive Igbuzor, said INEC would step up action on monitoring political parties, especially candidate nomination and campaign finance.

“Similarly, the commission will step up its partnership with the civil society, especially in civic and voter education and election monitoring and observation.

“The commission will review and improve its staff conditions of service and design and implement a posting policy for the deployment of its personnel.’’

Igbuzor added that in order to ease the burden of funding during election periods, INEC would spread general elections budgets across the financial periods covered by the election cycle.

For effective monitoring and evaluation framework for the plan, Igbuzor said that there would be a mid-term review of the plan after the 2019 elections.