PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICERS MUST REVERSE STAKEHOLDERS’ TENDENCY FOR MISCONSTRUING INEC’s PROCESSES AND LAWS – INEC CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmood, has urged Heads of Publicity Units and Voter Education of the Commission to ensure they are proactive and reverse the growing tendency for stakeholders to misconstrue the Commission’s processes and laws.

He said: “To our discomfort, and in spite of the fact that our laws provide for inconclusive elections - and indeed they are not peculiar to this Commission - Nigerians assume that inconclusive elections are bad”.

The INEC Chairman made the call yesterday at the opening of a three-day workshop on Strategic Communication and Review of Voter Education Strategies for Heads of Department (VEP) and Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) at the Newton Park Hotel, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONDUCTING FREE, FAIR AND CONCLUSIVE ELECTIONS IS EVERYBODY’S – INEC CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmood has urged Nigerians to play their part in ensuring elections were devoid of violence and other vices that led to declaring an election inconclusive. 

He said: “It is not just the responsibility of the Commission but the responsibility of all of us. If we play our role and mitigate violence, because you see the fire smoldering, if no action is taken until it develops into an inferno, it becomes difficult for everybody”.

The INEC Chairman made the call yesterday when members of the INEC Press Corps paid him a courtesy call at the Commissions headquarters Abuja.