The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has pledged support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
A Statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi on Sunday, said Gen. Francis Behanzin made the promise when he led a delegation of the body on a courtesy visit to INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The statement also quoted Behanzin as saying that the body would send 200 Observers for the elections.
He explained that the purpose of the visit was to evaluate INEC’s preparedness for the 2019 general elections as well as the challenges it was facing in view of Nigeria’s large voter population of over 80 million.
He appreciated the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s contributions towards the improvement of the electoral process and sustenance of democracy across the West African sub-region.
Responding, Yakubu, according to the statement, said the Commission had developed, validated and was already implementing its 2017 – 2021 Strategic Plan, the Election Project Plan and had also released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 General Elections since Jan. 9.
He also told the delegation that the Commission had carried out the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) that afforded citizens who just turned 18 years of age and other Nigerians who had never registered the opportunity to do so.
Oyekanmi, quoted the INEC Chairman of informing the delegation also, that over 14.5 million voters were registered during the exercise between April 2017 and August 2018 and that the new figure would be added to the almost 70 million citizens already in the national Voter Register after due processes, adding that the country might have about 83 million voters after the register had been cleaned up.
Yakubu noted that conducting general election in Nigeria could be likened to conducting an election for the whole of ECOWAS even as he informed the delegation that Nigeria presently has 91 registered political parties out of which 89 will field candidates for various positions in the 2019 elections.
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Yakubu, who is also the President, ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), noted that Nigeria has fulfilled its promises to the body since his election as its President in Cotonu, the Republic of Benin in March 2017.
These, according to him, included the location of the ECONEC Secretariat in Nigeria and the organisation’s visit to many member countries. He expressed the hope that by the end of March 2019 when his tenure would end, more countries would have been visited.
The INEC Chairman disclosed that the Electoral Commission in Guinea Conakry recently asked the Commission for help to clean up the country’s voter register, which was done, while Nigeria also observed the elections in Mali.
He said that INEC had supported other Electoral Commissions in the ECOWAS Sub-region, especially in the area of voter registration adding that Burkina Faso and Ghana were also provided with ballot boxes.
Yakubu however, identified finance as the major challenge facing ECONEC noting that while each member country was expected to pay $5,000 per annum, he was of the opinion that ECONEC would still require some support from ECOWAS.
He said he learnt that ECOWAS had promised to support ECONEC with $1 million dollars and expressed the hope that with the General’s visit, the account of ECONEC would be credited within a short time.
