INEC, ECOWAS review 2023 elections, share lessons learned

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Monday welcomed a delegation of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions on a post-election follow-up and needs assessment mission to Nigeria, two years after the 2023 polls.

Speaking at the INEC headquarters in Abuja, Yakubu commended the regional body for its sustained partnership in strengthening electoral processes across West Africa.

“It is my pleasure to welcome our guests from the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions who are here to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations made by the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to the last General Election in Nigeria held two years ago in February and March 2023,” Yakubu said.

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He expressed appreciation for the presence of the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission of Liberia, Mrs. Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, who led the mission, and the Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Bossman Asare.

The INEC boss also acknowledged the Acting Permanent Secretary of ECONEC, Serigne Mamadou Ka, alongside other international experts.

Yakubu noted that ECOWAS had made 37 recommendations following the 2023 elections, 13 of which were specifically directed at INEC.

The remaining 24 were addressed to institutions such as the National Assembly, Nigeria Police Force, National Broadcasting Commission, NITDA, civil society organisations, Nigeria Union of Journalists and political parties.

Of the 13 observations specifically addressed to INEC, the Commission has considered all the recommendations that require administrative action to implement while waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing legal review by the National Assembly on aspects of the recommendations that require legislative intervention,” he explained.

He assured the visiting delegation that INEC had prepared a detailed response to all the recommendations and made them accessible both online and in hard copies provided to the mission.

Yakubu also appreciated the support of development partners.

“We welcome to Nigeria Lenny Taabu and Mathias Hounkpe supported by EISA, Emmanuel Kissi supported by IDEA and Michael Agada from the German international cooperation agency, GIZ.

We look forward to a robust interaction at this meeting in the best interest of our elections and electoral process,” he said.

Responding, the Head of Mission and Chairperson of the National Elections Commission of Liberia, Mrs. Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, described the visit as a learning exercise not only for Nigeria but also for other electoral bodies in the region.

“This joint post-2023 election follow-up and needs assessment mission to Nigeria is a peer-to-peer review of our presence here during the 2023 elections, but more importantly, the recommendations that we offered, which were outlined in a report of our visit here,” she stated.

She explained that the team aimed to assess how INEC implemented the recommendations and to understand how challenges from the 2023 elections were addressed.

“We see this mission as a lesson learned, not just for INEC Nigeria, but also for our own institutions, our own election management bodies, because as we know, problems or challenges that are faced by any election management body are often faced by election management bodies throughout our region,” she added.

Browne-Lansanah further praised INEC’s support to Liberia’s electoral system.

“More importantly, INEC has supported through material sharing with the National Elections Commission in Liberia. Because of your intervention, we now have an ICT room, basically supported by your efforts.

“And through ECONEC and its principles and ideals, Nigeria actually responded to our needs. So I want to ask you to give a round of applause for Professor Mahmood and the Commissioners and the team of INEC Nigeria,” she said.

She concluded by stressing the need for regional cooperation.

“We want to learn what happened, so that we use your expertise in dealing with the problems and challenges to better situate our individual election management bodies and processes. Thank you to all of you, and we wish to have better, sustainable election management bodies throughout West Africa and the world,” she added.