INEC: We’ve learnt many lessons from past elections — Ondo will see improvements

Mahmood Yakubu, chair of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says the commission has learnt lessons from previous elections the country.

Yakubu spoke on Monday during his visit to the Ondo state headquarters of the commission in Akure ahead of the November 16 governorship election.

He expressed optimism that the election will be successful, adding that INEC would improve on challenges of logistics and results management.

“We have learnt a lot of lessons not only from the last election but also from previous elections. Basically, there are two challenges, the first one is logistics for election, so that polling units open promptly on election day,” he said.

“The second one is result management and my assurance to voters in Ondo State is that they are going to see fast improvement in these two processes.”

Yakubu said the commission would monitor the mock accreditation of voters and meet with stakeholders during his visit.

“We have received positive reports from our state office in Akure, but we decided also to come for readiness assessment. So, we are here basically to look at what is happening, and the good work that the state office has done,” he said.

“We are going to meet with the stakeholders including political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and security agencies and we are also going to meet with our staff to assess our readiness.

“We will be here for a few days. One of the activities we are also going to observe is the mock accreditation of voters which will take place in 16 polling units across six local government areas in the three senatorial zones of the state.

“In addition to other activities, we are also going to meet with the stakeholders on Thursday, and the following day, the National Peace Committee will also invite all the stakeholders for the signing of the national peace accord.”