Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
Professor Attahiru Jega, has said that some predictions, especially in
some international media organizations suggesting that the outcome of the
recently concluded 2015 general elections may lead to the end of the
country, have proven to be false due to the generally free, fair, credible
and peaceful conduct of the elections.
The INEC Chairman made the comment yesterday at the Commission’s
headquarters in Abuja when he received a delegation led by the Ambassador
of Mexico in Nigeria, Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco.
He said “We are indeed very happy that our elections turned out to be well
and to have been recognized both nationally and internationally as free,
fair, credible and also peaceful. Leading to the election, some
impressions had been created, particularly in the international media as
if this may be the end of our country. Thank God it was doomsday
prediction which turned out to be false”.
Professor Jega, who was delighted by the offer to share experiences with
the other countries, explained that though the 2015 elections, were not
perfect, they were much better than that of 2011 and admitted that there
was room for improvement.
The INEC Chairman said: “We know that the election has not been perfect;
we know that it was better than 2011; but there is also a lot of scope
for improvement and that is why we welcome every opportunity to visit
other countries and to see how they do their own elections and to be able
to exchange ideas and to also learn good practices which we can continue
to adapt to our own circumstances for continuous improvement of our own
electoral process”.
He appreciated the efforts of the Mexican High Commission in the signing
of a Memorandum of Understanding between both countries in sharing
electoral experiences and urged that such bilateral relationship should be
extended to other sectors. “You facilitated the signing of the Memorandum
of Understanding which has been very useful, many of our staff have
benefited by participation in some conferences. All these experiences
have been useful and beneficial and we cherish the opportunity,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Ambassador Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco had said
his mission to the Commission was to “transmit congratulatory message for
a great job that the Commission did in the last electoral process.” He
said everybody recognized the key role played by the Commission in the
successes achieved in the last electoral process.
He called on the leadership of INEC to share experience with his country
which he said is very important in improving the electoral process in
Mexico. He said: “Your expertise, knowledge and wisdom will be a great
asset to our electoral body. With experience sharing, Mexico will benefit
a lot”.
He advocated for continuous strengthening of existing bi-lateral
relationship between both countries.