We’re Ready For Improved Rivers LG Polls – RSIEC

Following hints of another local government elections in the first quarter of next year in the state, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) has declared that  all measures are being put in place to check lapses of the last local  government polls as it gears up for the elections.

Commissioner for Public Affairs and Civil Education of RSIEC, Barrister Nimi Walson-Jack made the declaration while answering questions during  a media interactive forum organised by Silverbird Communications in Port Harcourt at the weekend.

Barrister Walson-Jack said the lapses during  the  last local government polls had been taken care of, but noted that the quality of the elections still rested on the populace.

One major factor that would determine better polls, according to the RSIEC commissioner, was a transparent voters registration. With accurate voters register, he argued that electoral manipulations would be minimised.

Asked how the commission would ensure that the parties produce credible candidates, Barrister Walson-Jack responded that, “we have powers to monitor parties primaries but we cannot go beyond that to know what they do behind to choose consensus candidates. Our own is to ensure that the person that wins is elected”.

The RSIEC commissioner denied  insinuations that the body was being influenced by the State Government even though it gets its funds from the authorities.

He argued that the last polls conducted  in the state confirmed the body’s independent status, pointing out that some opposition parties for the first time clinched some councillorship positions in the state.

In order to have credible local polls next year, the RSIEC commissioner said a lot  had to be done by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), “when there is more openness, people would have trust in the system. The mistake we made so far is that we separated the electoral system from the society forgetting that the former affects the latter”.

Barrister Walson-Jack used the medium to hail the Appeal Court ruling in Ekiti State, while lamenting that prolonged electoral petitions help to stifle the political system.

For him, “the judicial system should see itself as seperate from the electoral system. That is why there is slow adjudication of matters, so when once that is corrected, I think most of the matters would not last as they do now”.