2019 elections will be better than 2015 - Former INEC chairman Jega
- Attahiru Jega has assured that the 2019 general election will be better than the previous one
- The former INEC boss said the electoral commission has made unprecedented preparations for the 2019 election
- He called on Nigerians to work hard for the elimination of electoral malpractice and fraud
The former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has assured that the forthcoming 2019 general elections will be better than the previous one.
Jega said the current leadership of the electoral body has made significant progress since assuming duty at INEC in November 2015.
Delivering a keynote address at the National Judicial Institute, Jega said Nigeria had the worst election in 2007.
In a paper titled, Towards Elections with Integrity in 2019, Challenges and Prospect, the former INEC chairman said the country has had better and improved elections in 2011 and 2015. He said the forthcoming 2019 elections should be better, giving the level of preparedness of the current INEC.
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"Since November 2015, when the current INEC was put in place, significant, commendable progress has been made to sustain, deepen, and defend the integrity of the Nigerian electoral process," Jega said.
The former electoral boss added that some reform measures put in place to ensure success of the 2019 election includes the retention and upgrading of the smart card readers to expand their current capabilities.
"It also includes initiation for the first time of continuous voters registration to update the register, successful conduct of elections into 179 federal constituencies of which only four have so far been overturned by the Election Petition Tribunal and review of polling units, registration areas, electoral constituencies and diaspora voting.
"INEC has identified the following as outstanding challenges, Money in politics, attitude and disposition of politicians, delay in the review and amendment of the electoral legal framework, funding, vote buying, election security and hate speech," he said.
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Jega further called on Nigeria's political class to imbibe and uphold core values enshrined in the Nigerian constitution which affirms the culture of democratic principles and practice as paramount .
He said Nigerians must work hard for the elimination of electoral malpractice and fraud.
Legit.ng earlier reported that a civil society organisation had said that the electoral commission must meet the increased demand for voters' registration by citizens.
YIAGA Africa’s WatchingTheVote said that there is an upsurge in the demand for registration by citizens.
The organisation added that the challenge faced by the registration process remains that some people are not aware of the location of CVR centers while some of the machines in use are obsolete and have been breaking down in the course of registration.
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Source: Legit.ng
