INEC, stakeholders meet on 2019 election
News & Trends •
logistics is basically public service. some citizens may understand if we dont open polling units at 8.00a.m. others will see it as incompetence of the electoral commission1 the inec chairman prof. mahmood yakubu on thursday met with heads of security agencies logistics experts transport unions and other stakeholders to ensure seamless deployment of elections materials and personnel in 20191 the event was equally supported by the international foundation for electoral systems ifes1 it was aimed at enhancing timely delivery of materials and personnel to polling units during the 2019 general elections1 declaring the conference open yakubu said that nigerians would expect polling units to be opened at 8.00a.m. on election days feb. 16 2019 and march 2 20191 if we dont open the polling units at 8.00a.m. it means we have not started well but how do we open polling units at 8.00a.m1 it requires biggest and big time logistics operations1 we have been required to deliver personnel and electoral materials at 119 973 locations nationwide and they must all open simultaneously1 electoral logistics is key to the successful opening of polling units at the time we have promised nigerians we are going to do so1 if we open all the polling units or a substantial majority by 8.00a.m. we have achieved a considerable part of our responsibility in election management other things will fall in place he said1 according to him if there are hiccups people from different sections will complain1 yakubu said that some polling units were hard to reach and would require use of boats1 he noted that the 2019 elections remained 232 days saying that the exercise would be a huge undertaking with several obstacles some preventable and others unexpected1 the chairman said that the exercise would require careful planning adding that deployment and retrieval of personnel and materials for elections would call for huge logistics1 according to him any flop in logistics will be termed as an attempt to disenfranchise the citizens hence the need to plan adequately with logistics operators and security agencies1 the news agency of nigerian nan reports that inec organised the conference on logistics for the 2019 general elections in collaboration with the european centre for electoral support eces1 the work is sensitive so we are determined as the election management body to ensure that polling units open at 8.00a.m. as promised1 to be able to do so we need contributions support suggestions and inputs of those who have been handling these as a matter of their respective constitutional duties yakubu said1 he said that the conference was marking the last stage of planning for the elections before moving to the implementation1 the inec boss said the management of the electoral process is not left for the commission it is a nigerian project it is not an inec project1 we thought we should mobilise all our national assets from the security agencies officials of the commission private sector transport unions to put our heads together so that we can better deliver this service to the nation in 20191 in his keynote address mr david le notre project director eces said election is a time-bound event which requires precision and exactitude in the deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials1 for a vast geographical country like nigeria with pockets of difficult terrains the importance of putting in place efficient and effective logistics for deployment of personnel and election materials to service about 1558 constituencies cannot be over- emphasised1 le notre said that the conference sought to examine challenges related to the deployment of electoral personnel and materials countrywide1 mr seeray jay the representative of ifes said that the body was committed to advancing good governance and democratic rights by providing technical assistance to ensure electoral integrity1 jay said a national election is one of the countrys biggest logistics events. personnel and materials must get to the polling units at the right time quantity and in good shape for elections to take place as scheduled.1 to do this inec has to rely on capable and professional transport providers public or private ones that know think and act like inec1 he called on all stakeholders to support inec in ensuring that deployment and retrieval of materials and personnel would be timely during the elections1 nan reports that key players in the logistics industry such as the military police private logistics companies and bulk transporters among others were at the conference1 the inspector-general of police mr ibrahim idris attended the event while the army air force navy federal road safety and department of state security were represented. nan1