By Danlami Nmodu
Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission ,INEC ,Professor Attahiru Jega has disclosed that the commission has strengthened its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA).He mad this revelation in his remarks at the international seminar on Political Advertising,Perception Building And Voter Education at the YarAdua Centre in Abuja on Friday.
Jega listed compliance with FOIA as one of the efforts made between 2011 and now to enhance voter education. “We have also strengthened the Commission’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and trained different categories of INEC on the provisions of this important law”,he said.
Speaking on other measures that to enhance education of voters Jega said “ In line with the Commission’s Strategic Plan (2012 – 2016), we have instituted an Inter-agency Committee on Voter Education and Publicity at both the national and state levels.
“We have formulated a Communication Policy / Strategy to guide both the Internal and External information dissemination processes of the Commission, and improve our voter education and civic sensitization engagements with diverse stakeholders.
“We have regularly been holding quarterly meetings with all the registered political parties, where we share information about INEC’s operations and processes and get the input of these parties. We expect that the information shared at these meetings will be passed down the party ranks, and ultimately to their supporters.
Also INEC Chairman said the Commission has increased its “engagement with civil society organisations and media stakeholders. Consequently, we regularly share information that could be used in further educating the public about the political process.
“Through the establishment of the INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC), we have strengthened the Commission’s reach in public sensitization and its responsiveness to public enquiries on the political process”Jega said
He also reiterated the importance of continuing voter education. “As we approach the general elections in February 2015, no effort should be spared by stakeholders in promoting civic enlightenment among the electorate and global best practices among the political elite”,Jega said , adding “For us at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), we have always said that even though the 2011 general elections were widely acclaimed as a major improvement on the past elections in this country, we are determined to raise the bar much higher in 2015. Actually, our goal is not to only make the 2015 elections much better than 2011, they should also be very good when measured using to international benchmarks of democratic elections. We encourage other stakeholders to come on board and contribute their quota towards achieving this objective.
“The theme of the seminar, namely ‘Political Advertising, Perception Building and Voter Education,’ is quite timely. One of the major requirements of liberal democracy is mobilisation and participation of the people in the process. However, the enthusiasm of the electorate about a political process invariably has much to do the level of civic education about that process.
