HeadlineINEC: We’ll Raise The Bar Much Higher In 2015, Says Jega

INEC: We’ll Raise The Bar Much Higher In 2015, Says Jega

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BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 12, (THEWILL) – The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, Friday in Abuja, promised that the electoral body would raise the bar of its performance higher during 2015 general elections.

He also hailed the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) for supporting the electoral body through enlightenment of the electorate as the preparation for next year’s general elections begin.

Speaking at the international seminar on Political Advertising, Perception Building & Voter Education which held at the Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, Jega, who was the chairman of the occasion, commended AAAN and other organisations supporting the seminar for making issues pertaining to the electoral process the focal point of the event.

He said as the nation approaches the general elections in February 2015, no effort should be spared by stakeholders in promoting civic enlightenment among the electorate and global best practices among the political elite.

According to Jega, “For us at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), we have always said that even though the 2011 general elections were widely acclaimed as a major improvement on the past elections in this country, we are determined to raise the bar much higher in 2015. Actually, our goal is not to only make the 2015 elections much better than 2011, they should also be very good when measured using to international benchmarks of democratic elections.”

He therefore advised other stakeholders to come on board and contribute their quota towards achieving this objective.

Continuing, he said: “The theme of the seminar, namely ‘Political Advertising, Perception Building and Voter Education,’ is quite timely. One of the major requirements of liberal democracy is mobilisation and participation of the people in the process. However, the enthusiasm of the electorate about a political process invariably has much to do the level of civic education about that process.
“For this seminar, we have a Keynote Speaker, Mr. Craig Smith, who is reputed and tested in grassroots political mobilisation in the United States and will be sharing with participants here from his wealth of experience.

“I am aware that officials of all the registered political parties have been invited to this seminar. We should all have a lot to learn about international best practices in grassroots mobilisation, perception building and voter education. I also expect that the panel discussion subsequently by representatives of professional media bodies, the civil society and INEC will bring out the varied stakeholder perspectives on the subject matter.”

According to the INEC boss, “We in the Commission recognise the profound importance of building the right perception of the Nigerian electoral process among the electorate. That is why we are leaving nothing to chance in our effort to improve the level of voter education and civic sensitization about the process. We know too well that poor voter education partly, if not substantially, accounted for some major challenges we experienced as a country in past elections. These challenges include voter apathy, unduly high level of void votes in elections and, indeed, the unfortunate incident of post-election violence in 2011.

“But I can confidently say here that we have come a long way since 2011 with our voter education efforts in INEC, even though we really must do much more.”

While listing the achievements of the Commission in the last couple of years, Jega said: “In line with the Commission’s Strategic Plan (2012 – 2016), we have instituted an Inter-agency Committee on Voter Education and Publicity at both the national and state levels.

“We have formulated a Communication Policy/Strategy to guide both the Internal and External information dissemination processes of the Commission, and improve our voter education and civic sensitisation engagements with diverse stakeholders.

“We have regularly been holding quarterly meetings with all the registered political parties, where we share information about INEC’s operations and processes and get the input of these parties. We expect that the information shared at these meetings will be passed down the party ranks, and ultimately to their supporters.

“We have increased our engagement with civil society organisations and media stakeholders. Consequently, we regularly share information that could be used in further educating the public about the political process.”

He also said: “Through the establishment of the INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC), we have strengthened the Commission’s reach in public sensitisation and its responsiveness to public enquiries on the political process.

“We have also strengthened the Commission’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and trained different categories of INEC on the provisions of this important law.”

He however maintained that the responsibility for voter education and civic sensitisation about the electoral process does not lie with INEC alone.

“Other stakeholders – namely politicians and political parties, media professionals, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, community and opinion leaders, among others – must join in the task of promoting greater enlightenment about the political process in the citizenry,” he said.

According to Jega, “Equally important is that politicians, in particular, must cultivate the right attitude to the contest for power and imbibe best practices that would boost the confidence of the electorate in the process,” adding “This seminar is evidently an effort towards promoting the afore-stated values, and it is highly commendable.”

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