INEC gets two committees for presidential poll, others

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has taken a major step in its preparation for the February 16 presidential election and others.

It inaugurated yesterday two ad-hoc committees for Electoral Logistics and Collation Centre.

Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Ahmed Mu’azu is the chairman of the Electoral Logistics Committee. Mrs. Amina Zakari is the chairperson of the Results Collation Committee. Her appointment drew criticism from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but INEC said there was no need for that because she is in charge of setting up the Situation Room and National Collation Centre for the election. This includes creating a conducive environment for observers, INEC staff and others all through the election.

Air Vice Marshal Mu’azu and Mrs. Zakari are National Commissioners in the commission.  INEC’s directors of Stores and Secretary are to serve as secretaries to the committees.

INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu described the inauguration as another step in the commission’s determination to ensure seamless preparations for the the forthcoming elections.

The Electoral Logistics Committee will be responsible for coordinating logistics, as well as the clearance and transportation of electoral materials to various locations nationwide.

Yakubu said: “The first committee is responsible for electoral logistics. The commission is aware that the conduct of a general election is the biggest and most complex logistics operation a nation can undertake.

“Sensitive and non-sensitive materials procured by the commission must be delivered to almost 200,000 locations nationwide, ranging from the polling units to the various wards, local government areas, states and the national collation centres for the 1,558 constituencies into which elections will be conducted.”

“At the end of the elections, sensitive materials will be retrieved from the same locations. The same process will be repeated for each of the two phases of the 2019 general elections.

“The two phases are: the Presidential and National Assembly elections holding on February 16 and the governorship,  states’ Assembly and Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on March 2,’’ the INEC chairman said.

The Committee on National Collation Centre, which is entirely internal to the commission, will be responsible for the national collation centre from where results of the Presidential election will be announced.

“As was the case in 2015, the commission will use the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.

“Already, the management of the ICC has approved the commission’s request to once again use the venue in 2019.

“It will serve as the secretariat for collation of results and venue for briefing of international observers and the media.

“It will also be accessible to agents of the 73 political parties fielding candidates in the presidential election.

“Facilities, such as power, access to the internet, live transmission for national and international media as well as accreditation for access to the ICC and security of the venue, shall be handled by the committee,” Yakubu said.

He assured Nigerians that “the commission is on course to deliver credible elections in 2019’’.

He also noted that the commission would meet with the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Abuja today by 4pm to discuss the ongoing strike by the union, only in relation to INEC’s preparations for the general elections.

Yakubu said: “We are concerned that the bulk of critical election duty staff are drawn from the universities. We are determined to ensure that the processes are not affected by the union’s industrial action.

“ASUU is a critical partner to the commission in delivering credible elections. We look forward to the meeting and we are confident of a positive outcome.”

The INEC chair said that the commission had contacted the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as the commission was already in partnership with one of its affiliate unions, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

“The Commission plans to meet with the NLC next week,’’ Yakubu said.

Members of the Logistics Committee are: National Commissioners Abubakar Lamuche and Malam Muhammed Haruna,  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Road Safety Corps and Nigeria Police Force.

Others are: Department of State Services (DSS); the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force; INEC Director in charge of Electoral Operations & Logistics Department, INEC Director of Estate Works & Transport and INECý Director of Procurement.

On the committee on Collation Centre are: National Commissioners Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine and Festus Okoye; Chief Technical Adviser to INEC chair Prof Boade Eyinla; Chief Press Secretary to Chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi; Director, International Cooperation and Protocol; Director, Information Technology (ICT); Director, Election, Party Monitoring  (EPM);  Director, Security Department; Director, Planning and Monitoring; Director, Health Services Department and Director, Commission Secretariat who will also double as Secretary of the committee.

AVM Mu’azu pledged that the members would deliver their responsibilities with all sense of diligence.

He said: “The committee will do whatever needs to be done to guarantee a seamless delivery of men and materials to the right place at the right time and in the right quantity and, of course, guarantee retrieval of same after the two elections.

“I want to also assure you that we appreciate and very clear in our minds the gravity of what is on our hands. Therefore, we shall hit the ground running.”