My unfulfilled promise and regrets as INEC chairman – Jega

Firstclass gathered that the Chairman, Independent National Electoral
Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Monday reviewed his tenure as the
boss of the electoral body and concluded that his only regret was his
inability to create a separate salary structure for INEC workers.
Jega spoke in Abuja during a retreat organised for the electoral
officers of the commission where the report of the 2015 elections was
reviewed.
The retreat was titled, "2015 general elections: Lessons and the way forward."
Jega also said that members of staff of the commission were subjected
to difficult circumstances during the 2015 elections.
He said apart from the special salary issue, the commission under his
leadership performed well.
But he regretted that despite the undertaking he said he made when he
assumed office on the need to create a special salary structure for
the members of staff of the commission, he was unable to accomplish
that up till now.
He said, "We have done our best as a commission under very difficult
circumstances and the major regret as I have always acknowledged is
that a major undertaking we made when we first resumed at the
commission is to have a separate salary structure for the members of
staff of the commission but we have not been able to achieve this
"And obviously this is one area where we still have to do a lot of
work and put in a lot of efforts as we move towards the future and to
improve.
"But apart from that, I don't think we have done badly in terms of
promoting the welfare and the wellbeing of the members of staff.
"We have ensured that salaries were paid regularly, we have ensured
that there are a lot of opportunities for self improvement through the
organisation of seminar and workshop with our partners."
He said he was aware that there was no way the commission could
satisfy everyone, saying that some were not happy when the commission
redeployed some of its members of staff.
He said, "Again as I said, we could not have satisfied the
expectations of everybody, we believe that we have done our best. I
must say that not all of you are happy with some of the measures that
we have introduced as a commission.
"The restructuring and reorganisation certainly could not have
satisfied everybody because it required trimming down the size of the
commission and also redefining schedule of responsibilities and
putting square pegs in square holes as we called it at that time."
Jega, who had insisted that he would leave INEC after the expiration
of his tenure, said that the 2015 general elections were better than
those of 2011.
But he added that there was a lot of room for improvement and that as
the country prepares for future elections, the commission must begin
to reflect on what areas of further reforms it should focus its
attention on.
Jega also urged members of staff of the commission not to be carried
away by the accolades showered on them because of the successful
conduct of the 2015 general elections but they should work towards
improved performance in 2019.
"I think not many of us in this room would need a reminder, but it is
important that we remind ourselves that the success of the 2015
general elections was as a result of the tremendous effort and
undertaking of many of us to learn from our mistakes, to take measures
to learn from those mistakes and to continue to do our best for our
country," he added.
The Country Director, International Foundation for Electoral Systems
in Nigeria, Prof. Gloria Richard-Jackson, had earlier congratulated
the commission on the successful conduct of the 2015 elections.
She noted that although the 2015 elections had been adjudged as the
best in the country, "there is still room for improvement."
"IFES is happy to support your commission's effort to review the
conduct of the 2015 elections so as to build on the good practices and
lessons learnt as we prepare for the 2019 general elections," she
added.
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