Stakeholders Sensitised To INEC’s Guidelines Ahead Of 2027

As preparations for the 2027 wide elections begin, Nigerians, peculiarly stakeholders successful the electoral process, person been urged to familiarise themselves with innovations, reforms, and predetermination guidelines introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alternatively than let themselves to beryllium misled.

The telephone was made astatine a one-day municipality hallway gathering organised by Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre successful Africa (PAACA) successful Sokoto to sensitise cardinal actors connected electoral reforms and amended elector acquisition towards credible elections.

The meeting, organised with enactment from the MacArthur Foundation, brought unneurotic cardinal representatives of information agencies, the media, civilian nine organisations, and different stakeholders.

In his opening remarks, PAACA enforcement manager Ezenwa Nwagwu stressed the request to span cognition gaps connected cardinal innovations and INEC predetermination guidelines to antagonistic wide misinformation, particularly arsenic the state prepares for governmental seasons.

He emphasised the request for evidence-based treatment connected elections, explaining that elections are guided by laws. He urged stakeholders to survey these laws to prosecute knowledgeably successful electoral issues alternatively than trust connected misinformation.

He highlighted however politicians often mislead citizens and however poorly framed media narratives sometimes worsen mistrust successful the system, noting that antiauthoritarian consolidation requires citizens, governmental parties, and institutions to stay vigilant and informed.

“Politicians perpetrate ninety per cent of crimes during elections. If citizens are empowered with the close information, manipulation becomes difficult,” Nwagwu added.

He besides stressed that portion INEC and NOA play cardinal roles successful civic education, they cannot bash the enactment alone, saying that civilian society, media, information agencies, and accepted institutions indispensable measurement up.

He charged leaders astatine each levels to instrumentality idiosyncratic work for educating themselves and their communities to fortify Nigeria’s democracy, saying, “Those who instrumentality the symptom to larn are amended informed and tin amended pass others.”

Nwagwu stressed that citizens indispensable equip themselves with 3 cardinal documents to enactment successful the electoral process effectively.

“You cannot speech astir elections without the Electoral Act. Every citizen, particularly leaders, indispensable besides person a transcript of the Constitution. These documents are not conscionable for lawyers; they are for each Nigerian. The 3rd papers is INEC’s guidelines, which amusement that elections are law-guided processes,” helium said.

The PAACA brag besides reviewed the technological improvements made betwixt 2015 and 2025, peculiarly highlighting the relation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) successful drastically reducing manipulation successful the 2023 elections.

Nwagwu explained the workings of BVAS and IReV, noting that galore misconceptions stem from a deficiency of understanding.

He highlighted cardinal innovations present mainstreamed by INEC, including the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV), Election Monitoring Dashboard, Political Party Financial Auditing System, the INECPRES portal for ad-hoc unit recruitment and the Voter Verification System (VVS)Technology, which allows voters to way their polling units online to trim disorder connected predetermination day.

The PAACA Executive Director said innovations specified arsenic the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP—Web Version) person simplified governmental parties’ superior predetermination information process and improved transparency.

Nwagwu besides dismissed claims that Nigeria’s elections are the astir expensive, noting that specified claims are not based connected data.

On the contrary, helium said information published by the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions, which studied the outgo of elections successful the ECOWAS region, indicates that Nigeria’s elections are among the slightest expensive, with the state spending astir $8 per voter.

In a goodwill message, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner successful Sokoto State, Umar Yusuf Garba, represented by the Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Abdullahi Sale Dawa, described the municipality hallway arsenic an indispensable level to deepen knowing of electoral processes.

He said, “The just-concluded 2023 wide predetermination offered invaluable lessons. While the elections demonstrated advancement successful areas specified arsenic elector education, deployment of technology, and stakeholders’ engagement, they besides revealed challenges that telephone for honorable reflection and constructive dialogue. Only done this engagement tin we consolidate the gains achieved, code identified gaps, and illustration a clearer way towards credible, transparent, and inclusive elections successful the future.”

He stressed that INEC cannot win successful isolation, noting that gathering a sustainable electoral strategy rests connected the committedness of governmental actors,...