The Inter Celebration Advisory Council, IPAC, has rated the rapid previous Chairman of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee, INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood excessive over the reform of the nation’s electoral system by way of the introduction of know-how.
Talking at a colloquium in Abuja, Wednesday, on 10 years of the management of Mahmood as INEC Chairman, the Nationwide Chairman of IPAC, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle stated in view of the huge reform by the fee below Mahmood, it was troublesome to have a number of voting through the elections.
Dantalle stated the votes of Nigerians truly counted through the common election regardless of voter apathy, including that with the technological improvements launched by the Mahmood management, it turned troublesome for political events to control the system by way of using pretend voters playing cards, whereas additionally guaranteeing that solely registered voters participated.
He stated, “Prior to now, votes have been manufactured, outcomes have been introduced and you’ve got 20 one thing million, 30 one thing million. What the INEC below Professor Mahmood did was to first clear the voter’s register utilizing know-how, and now you can’t have multiple particular person on the register.
“The identify you might have right here, in the event you go to Bayelsa, it’s the identical particular person, in the event you go to Akwa Ibom, identical particular person. So with that course of, the voter’s checklist was cleaned up. There you had the underage voters that we used to have.
“Now we have seen pretend PVCs that have been produced and being thrown within the gutter, we noticed it and we introduced it.
“Nevertheless it was not from INEC and people PVCs couldn’t go the take a look at of BVAS as a result of they have been pretend. That was due to the know-how launched below the management of Professor Mahmood.
“So, when the election was performed in 2023, individuals complained about voter apathy. However the fact is that though there was voter apathy, votes have been not being manufactured by politicians. The votes you noticed through the election are the precise votes from Nigerians and no person may vote greater than as soon as”.
Justifying his declare, Dantalle added that, “We noticed an election the place a sitting governor misplaced election to the Senate. It occurred in Enugu, it occurred in Benue, in occurred in Kebbi, the place sitting governors couldn’t win as a result of votes counted.
“We noticed a Peter Obi who doesn’t have councillors anyplace, no native authorities chairman defeating the incumbent president in Lagos as a result of votes counted.”
Dantalle stated the know-how that was launched by Mahmood throughout his tenure have been home-grown applied sciences, constructed in-house by employees of the fee.
He stated that previously, political events may manipulate the method of submitting names of their candidates for each election, including that the Mahmood period at INEC put an finish to that, in addition to the nefarious actions related to it.
Based on him, “Prior to now, you might have political events coming with vehicles of sacks of paperwork from major elections to coalition facilities. At instances it’s a must to pay some officers to make sure that you go in.
“At instances, it’s a must to affect officers to alter the names of the individuals that truly gained from the sector. However Mahmood stopped it utilizing know-how.”
The IPAC Chairman stated because the chief electoral umpire, Mahmood “made political events to personal the system of importing the names of their candidates.
“Initially, the events weren’t doing that. INEC additionally realized that they have been nonetheless changing the names of potential candidates who’re winners of major elections.
“What INEC did was to make sure that they’ve a backup of the names of people who truly contested for the first and all the outcomes that emerged from the first. In the event you attempt to add names of people who didn’t win the first, the system will routinely reject it. What this has carried out is that it has tremendously diminished pre-election litigations from major elections.
“There isn’t a innovation that Mahmood launched into the system with out the enter and consensus of stakeholders akin to political events and civil society organizations.
“So all of the improvements and technological enter or in any other case that have been launched have the acceptability of the main stakeholders”.
The IPAC Chairman challenged whoever is coming after Mahmood “to construct on what he has carried out as a result of he has carried out tremendously properly. I’m saying this on behalf of political events.”
On registration of political events, he stated the method which was ongoing was delayed due to the stringent measures launched by the fee which had made it virtually inconceivable for one particular person to register a political get together.
He stated, “Prior to now, you see a political get together the place one man is the chairman, his spouse is the ladies chief, his son is the nationwide secretary. However at the moment it’s not like that with the registration ongoing. That’s the reason it’s been troublesome.
“It’s not that INEC refused to register, however assembly the factors for registration is the issue that you’ve seen. One of many circumstances hooked up to membership of the possible political events is possession of PVC as a result of the info on the PVC is with INEC.”
In the meantime, delivering his lecture titled “INEC below Prof. Mahmood Yakubu”, Keynote Speaker, Prof Emmanuel Aiyede of the College of Ibadan applauded the previous INEC chairman for introducing know-how into the nation’s electoral system.
Prof Aiyede stated, nonetheless, that know-how alone isn’t sufficient to make sure a reputable election and known as for a ahead trying method to dealing with problems with electoral reforms within the nation and never merely what was achieved within the final ten years.
He stated, “the true measure of management lies not merely in what one accomplishes, however within the buildings one leaves behind to maintain progress. Nigeria’s electoral journey, below his stewardship, has been redefined by a quiet however profound technological revolution.
“From the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Outcomes Viewing Portal (IReV) to the digitalisation of candidate nomination, observer accreditation, and voter registration, know-how has turn out to be the brand new grammar of electoral credibility.
“These instruments didn’t emerge by chance; they have been the product of foresight, an understanding that democracy within the twenty-first century should relaxation on verifiable knowledge, not simply declarations.
“Nevertheless, Yakubu’s actual legacy lies not within the machines themselves, however within the institutional mindset that now governs their use. He helped shift INEC from seeing know-how as a novelty to treating it as infrastructure, as integral to electoral governance as polling cubicles and poll containers.
“The Fee below his watch learnt that know-how can’t substitute for integrity, however it might amplify it. It can’t get rid of manipulation, however it might make manipulation traceable, accountable, and subsequently riskier.
“The subsequent frontier for Nigeria’s democratic consolidation lies in deepening and sustaining this institutional tradition. As INEC enters a post-Yakubu period, the problem might be twofold: to protect the features of digital transparency whereas addressing the operational bottlenecks that accompany them.
“Know-how should now evolve from instruments of election-day administration to devices of long-term democratic planning, powering data-driven choices on constituency delimitation, voter training, logistics, and safety coordination.
“Equally, the Fee should proceed to professionalise its human capital. Machines can authenticate fingerprints, however solely human integrity can authenticate elections. The longer term will demand a brand new era of electoral managers fluent in each regulation and know-how. INEC require people who can navigate not solely codes and algorithms but additionally the moral dilemmas of energy, persuasion, and public belief.
‘For Nigeria, the trail forward is each difficult and promising. The 2022 Electoral Act has created the authorized basis for a extra clear system. What stays is to make sure its trustworthy implementation throughout each state, each polling unit, and each election cycle.
“As community infrastructure improves and as digital literacy expands, the complete promise of the BVAS and IReV programs will start to unfold, lowering human error and strengthening confidence within the poll as the final word arbiter of legitimacy.
“However democracy can’t depend on know-how alone. The way forward for Nigeria’s elections will depend upon institutional cooperation and civic accountability. Political events should internalise democratic norms, the judiciary should uphold electoral justice with braveness, safety companies should act with impartiality, and residents should proceed to defend the sanctity of the vote.
“INEC, for its half, should stay a custodian that’s agency, honest, and forward-looking, dedicated to serving not governments or events, however the Nigerian individuals.
On this sense, Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s decade on the helm was not merely a interval of reform however a rehearsal for the longer term.
“His management has proven that credible elections are usually not miracles of circumstance however outcomes of self-discipline, self-discipline in regulation, in course of, and in precept. He leaves behind an establishment that’s stronger.”
Government Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Religion Nwadishi stated the occasion was organised to replicate on a defining period in Nigeria’s democratic journey, including that the colloquium isn’t merely to rejoice tenure, “however to replicate, evaluate, and suggest — to determine what has labored, the place challenges stay, and the way we will collectively strengthen the electoral course of going ahead.”
She stated Prof Yakubu “institutionalized steady voter registration, expanded stakeholder consultations, and strengthened the Fee’s inner programs.
“Importantly, he opened INEC’s doorways wider to civil society, media, and different teams, and prioritized transparency in election administration.
“He was very gender delicate as he created the primary crech within the INEC headquarters permitting nursing moms to deal with their infants whereas at work.
“But, as we replicate, we should additionally acknowledge the persistent challenges — the rising safety threats which have made elections in some elements of Nigeria extraordinarily troublesome; vote shopping for and voter intimidation that undermine the desire of the individuals; and voter apathy, which threatens the very basis of democracy.
“These challenges remind us that innovation alone isn’t sufficient — our collective dedication, institutional reform, and political will should match our technological developments”.
