INEC Will Operate Without External Influence, Says Jega

Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says the commission will operate without any external influence and control. Jega made the assertion during the stakeholders’ conference on validation of 2012-2016 Strategic Plan in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the commission will display openness and transparency in all activities
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission’s strategic plan is meant to give staff the right direction in their statutory role to ensure efficient delivery of service.
He said that the commission had adopted strategic planning and reorganisation to reposition itself for emerging challenges.
The chairman said INEC had embarked on programmes and projects targeted at bringing improvement into Nigeria’s electoral process.
He said that giving the international and national context of its operations necessitated the process of strategic plan in achieving its mandate
Jega said the INEC strategic plan had been aimed at achieving meaningful results over time based on internal and external factors that direct goal setting and allocation of resources.
He said the documents outlined the “Commission vision, mission and core values, effective monitoring, self-examination and activities required to attain strategic objectives amongst others.
Jega urged the stakeholders to make contributions toward enriching the document that would assist in sustaining the modest gains recorded in 2011.
The UNDP Country Project Director, Dr Mourtada Deme, expressed the hope that the exercise would provide a platform for INEC to further strengthen its cooperation and engagement with stakeholders in the electoral process.
Deme said this was because UNDP saw the implementation as one of the pivotal steps of the ongoing reform in the commission.
“we believe that the successful implementation of the plan will go a long way to enhance INEC’s ability to institutionalise mechanisms and process of series of governorship and rerun elections that have taken place since the 2011 general elections.
He, therefore, pledged the commitment of UNDP in supporting INEC to engender stakeholder’s confidence in the commissions.
No fewer than 148 participants attended the validation of the INEC’s 2012-2016 strategic plan.
They included resident electoral commissioners, Nigerian Custom Service, Nigerian Prison Service, Members of Association of the People with Disabilities, Civil Society Organisations and political parties amongst others.