Prof. Kate Omenugha, a member of the Civil Society Election Situation Room Coalition, on Friday in Abuja said that hope was not lost over INEC’s ability to deliver credible polls in the country.
Omenugha, a lecturer of Mass Communication, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“Any lapses on INEC’s part for the Anambra supplementary governorship election on Nov. 30 will not be acceptable by Nigerians.
According to her, Nigerians must not give up hope on INEC performance.
“ She urged INEC to be more open with challenges confronting it as a way of assuring the public of its sincerity to deliver credible polls.
She said INEC must ensure that the voter register for the Nov. 30 supplementary election was in order and appropriately deployed to polling units.
She said that INEC was making the mistake of not communicating its challenges before any election was held.
“Many of us in the civil society movement were sad over the conduct of the governorship poll on Nov. 16.
“But we have come to realise that some of the INEC’s logistics problem are fundamentally communication based.
“It needs to carry Nigerians along about what it is doing; what it ought to have done; and what it could not do under certain circumstances,“ the professor said.
Omenugha said that continuous civic and voter education must be championed by INEC to sensitise the voting public to their responsibilities, saying that voter education should be part of school curriculum.
Another member of the coalition, Mr Echezona Asuzu, who is the Deputy General-Secretary, Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE), said that INEC should provide more security for election observers.
“During the Nov. 16 Anambra poll, many accredited observers of that election were harassed, assaulted and threatened by some party agents and thugs.
“We expect INEC to have put in place enough security measure to protect those of us that will be monitoring the supplementary poll on Saturday.
“INEC must not also make voter sensitisation to their duties a periodic thing. It should be continuous and not only when elections are around the corner,“ he said. (NAN)
