A large crowd made up of made up of senior, middle cadre and junior staff as well as guests, gathered Thursday at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in a rousing welcome to the reappointed chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
Prof Yakubu Thursday resumed work in the commission after a month of stepping aside, following his swearing-in on Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The INEC chairman who had to disembark from his car at the gate of the commission to acknowledge cheers from the crowd, frantically waved at the crowd in return.
The crowd erupted in welcome songs and praises for the returning chairman as he walked from the gate of the headquarters to the conference hall where the handover ceremony held.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the acting chairman AVM Muazu said it was exactly 31 days since the chairman stepped aside.
According to him, the commission had successfully held bye-elections in 15 constituencies across the country.
In a note of sadness, however, the acting chairman announced that six policemen lost their lives when a boat conveying electoral materials and officials capsized in Bayelsa state during the conduct of the bye- election.
He stated that most of the bye- elections were conducted under very difficult terrains, adding that a review of the bye elections would be undertaken in a meeting to be held immediately after the handover ceremony with the RECS at the commission’s headquarters.
Responding, the INEC chairman thanked Muazu and five other national commissioners for overseeing the affairs of the commission when he was away.
“I want to thank you for holding forth,” he said.
He said allowing Muazu to oversee the affairs of the commission was in line with his policy of rotating the national commissioners to act as chairman at one time or the other, expressing the delight all national commissioners had acted as chairman during his temporary absence.
Enumerating some of the tasks awaiting the commission before the next general election in 2023, Yakubu said the passing of amendment of the Electoral Act is top priority for the commission, promising that bill would be passed latest in March next year.
The INEC chairman assured that the National Assembly is committed to actualizing the passage of the Electoral Bill.
He also noted that the immediate area of attention for the commission is the continuous voter registration which he said would be done in the first quarter of next year to last for a period of one and half years.
Yakubu stated that the commission was determined to update and clean up the voter register, adding that “without a clean credible register of voters, you can’t have a credible democratic election and we are committed to cleaning up the register of voters accordingly.”
To do so, the INEC chairman said a new technology for voter enrolment would be introduced in 2021 relying from the lessons of the previous exercise of 2017 and 2018.
He stated that they are 799 days to the next general election, saying that more activities in preparation to the 2023 general election would be made known in due course.
He further disclosed that the commission has 1,508 activities to achieve before the next general election, promising that INEC would work hard to brace the responsibilities.
