INEC reviews five-year election strategic plan

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has inaugurated a 17-man committee to review its operational plan for the next five years.

Speaking at the ceremony yesterday in Abuja, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, explained that the review would form the basis for the full formulation of the election project plan for the 2023 ballot.

According to him, it will also help the commission to identify all events, programmes and actions that needed to be implemented before the election.

Yakubu recalled that INEC’s first strategic plan, within which general elections were anchored, was developed to serve as a compass for the commission’s activities between 2012 and 2016. It was reviewed to cover the period 2017 to 2021 and would also be reviewed to cover the period 2022 to 2026.

“The commission believes that we can’t approach election management on ad hoc basis; but we must deliberately plan for elections. It will also help us to track the off-season governorship elections taking place between this year and 2023 to ensure that these elections are also properly implemented.

“Both the strategic plan and the election project plan will enable the commission to monitor all the processes through our election management system platforms. So, this is a very important exercise for the commission to be undertaken,” he stated.

The national commissioner and chairman of INEC Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Strategy, AVM Ahmed Muazu (rtd.) will head the committee.