Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC), Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC) Committee, has said that the country’s future depends on the performance of the permanent and ad hoc staff who would manage the forthcoming elections.
The remarks was made on Thursday by Mohammad Kuna, the EMSC Chairman and Special Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Yakubu at the EMSC Amber Zone State -Level Implementers’ Workshop in Lagos for officers from 17 Southern states across the country.
The first batch of the two-days training was held on Monday and Tuesday in Lagos for officers from the 19 Northern states.
Kuna stated, “This is our country, all of us have to collectively put hands together in order to see that this election is run smoothly.
“Everyone, either ad hoc or permanent staff, we are all Nigerians and we are all doing this for our country and for the consolidation of democracy.
He added, “The future of this country depends on what we do as election managers as permanent staff and ad hoc staff.
“They have to take responsibility, this is an obligation and national duty for us to do what is right and ensure that the elections are credible.”
Speaking about the preparedness of the electoral body, Kuta noted that materials for the forthcoming elections are daily being sent to various states ahead of the poll, hence the need for EMSC to monitor the deployment to see the gaps and fix them.
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“As we speak now, materials are going to states. We want how to start monitoring accurately, day by day what each state has received to see whether there are any gaps.
Kuna added, “Conducting an election needs thousands of materials which have to be sent to states and thousands of activities have to be planned.
“We have to systematically checked these activities and this meeting is meant to begin to check these activities and materials.
“That is the final check to see if there are gaps and we will fix the gaps, and if there are issues, we fix the challenges before the elections.
While assuring the electorate that the election would be credible, Kuna said that the INEC Chairman, . Mahmood Yakubu, had consistently on various occasion promised Nigerians that the 2023 general elections would be one of the best election ever conducted in Nigeria.
He further stated that Nigeria can see this in the governorship election conducted in Ekiti and Osun and other elections conducted by INEC.
“Our elections keep getting better every time we conduct election. There is no cause for alarm,” he stressed.
