INEC, NBS partner to Improve data sharing For Nat’l Devt
By Raphael Ekpang
Abuja (Core Reporters) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed readiness to explore areas of collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to strengthen the collection, management, and use of data for national development.
Speaking on Tuesday, September 9, during a courtesy visit by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, to the INEC headquarters in Abuja, Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, commended the NBS for coordinating what he described as “the largest official database on all aspects of national life in Nigeria,” while emphasising INEC’s own critical role in maintaining the country’s most extensive database of adult citizens, used exclusively for electoral purposes and protected by law under the National Data Protection Act.
Today’s meeting focuses on how NBS can leverage on the commission’s network of locations for electoral services, for the benefit of citizens beyond elections, which only happen once in four years or as the need arises.
“You may recall that following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, we worked in synergy with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“We synergised by deploying some of our vehicles which are national assets to facilitate infection prevention and control, contact tracing and surveillance.
“We are always willing to partner with national agencies within the confines of the law, while maintaining our independence.
“We regard our partnership with NBS in this context,” Yakubu said.
Earlier, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran said that the visit was for the bureau to collaborate with INEC to ensure that available data within Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were harmonised and available for national and institutional usage.
He commended INEC’s diligence and transparency in managing Nigeria’s electoral process and pledged that the NBS would work with INEC to make its data, including those on the ongoing CVR, available to citizens, especially those at the grassroots.
“The core mandate of the NBS is to warehouse all official data for the country, so that we can make those data available to the public and to government to do their work, to make programmes and to formulate policies”
The Statistician-General also announced plans to expand the Integrated System of Administrative Services, a digital platform currently connected to 15 MDAs that allows for real-time data sharing.
“We aim to bring INEC onto this platform so data can be shared seamlessly in real time,” he said. “This collaboration will benefit both institutions and the nation at large.” he said.
