By Sani Yola
The Chairman of the Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission (ADSIEC), Muhammad Umar. has shared insight about the challenges and plans to improved on the electoral process in the state
The chairman at his office in Yola, the state capital on Tuesday said the recent local government elections were peaceful, but with low voter turnout in some areas.
According to him, the lack of participation from other political parties, except for the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, contributed to the low turnout.
He said with his wealth of experience on electoral matters,as a retired Independent National Electoral Commission’s lNEC Staff , he knew electoral processes and he is committed, ready to give all political parties a level playing ground without fair or favor to any political party.
Umar said but he was disappointed at the withdrawal of some political parties from participations in the polls at an early stage of the election for fear of dominance of the ruling party in the state
” This decision to withdraw from the election has denied these political parties from contesting the, process, results and also make recommendations on the polls to enable the commission improve on it in the future”
” Pettisions and objective criticism will help the commission improve on its mode of operations, policies and procedures when conducting future polls. ” he said
Umar further revealed that the commission has plans to embark on rigorous training of its staff to improve their performance for future polls adding that the commission has decided to immediately start the process of future polls by training and retraining of staff , putting in place necessary measures not waiting until when polls are near than it start running helter skelter to prepare for election.
Umar believed that adequate and deliberate preparation should be made earlier enough to avoid careless hitches and unnecessary mistakes before, during and after polls so as to reduce post-violence crisis in the country
He also noted the introduction of technology, like INEC, could help prevent issues like multiple voting and improve the voting system.
He however explained that the commission faces challenges, including inadequate staff training, poor working environment, and limited resources which he was bent on improving the commission’s challenges via the help of the governor of the state, Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri who had told him to use his wealth of experience to make the commission functional one.
Meanwhile he called on political parties in the state to be more active and engage in healthy competition, rather than relying on one party dominating the elections.
He said the commission is making every efforts to improve the electoral process and promote healthy competition among political parties .commendable.
” And I wish all political parties success in all their endeavors to enhance democracy in Adamawa State” Umar said
