Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu,on Tuesday, expressed the commission’s willingness to share ideas and experience with the Cameroonian election management body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), in terms of voter registration, voter cards distribution and voter education.
Professor Yakubu said this on Tuesday, when a delegation from ELECAM ,led by an assistant director in the commission, Mewoand Hugues Erick, paid him a visit at the commission’s headquarters, in Abuja .
The INEC boss expressed delight that the commission had played host to a number of election management bodies from other countries in the last one year, an indication that Nigeria’s electoral system and processes, were being appreciated internationally.
According to him,“we have the largest biometric voters register in the whole of Africa and one of the largest in the world. We have about 70 million registered voters. Our own presidential democracy is only second to the United States in terms of size.
“ We will be very happy, therefore, to share our experiences in terms of voters’ registration, the cleaning up of the voters registry and the deployment of the biometric voters register”.
Yakubu further said that during the 2015 general election, the commission went completely electronic by deploying an electronic register with electronic voter cards, which were compatible with the Smart Card Reader (SCR).which added value to the integrity of the process.
According to him,”“be rest assured that you have a friend and partner in INEC, we will support ELECAM in the interest of democracy across our continent.
“We will continue to work towards strengthening our democracy but our democracy should also be of help to democracies everywhere, especially, in our own continent,” he said.
While Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation ,had stated that their visit was aimed at sharing information and experience with INEC, especially, in preparation for their country’s forthcoming presidential election slated for 2018.
He listed a few technical areas where INEC’s wealth of experience would be of immense help to Cameroon’s preparation for the conduct of its presidential election.
Erick requested for experience sharing in terms of voter registration, distribution of voter cards, and voter education towards achieving maximum voter participation in the electoral process.
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