The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has cautioned that the current wave of insecurity if persists could lead to the cancellation or postponement of the forthcoming general election. The electoral umpire has lamented that the development if not nipped in the bud could hinder the declaration of the election result and that would amount to constitutional crises in the country. The statement was made yesterday in Abuja by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute TEI, INEC’s training arm, professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru during the validation of election security training resources.
He recalled that in the last month, INEC experienced a wave of violence and attack on its facilities which were listed as; Imo (11), Osun (7), Enugu (5), Akwa Ibom (5), Ebonyi (4), Cross River (4), and Abia (4), Anambra (2), Taraba (2), Kaduna (1), Borno (1), Bayelsa (1), Ondo (1), Lagos (1), and Ogun (1).
Recall when the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu appeared before the House of Representative Ad-Hoc Committee on investigation and attack, he made it clear to the committee that if the wave of attacks continue on the INEC facilities, it could impede the success of the agency.
The INEC boss solicited the corporation of security agencies to provide adequate protection against the facilities spread across the federation.
Currently, Nigeria is confronted with varying security challenges from Banditry to Kidnapping and activities of secessionists in the southeast where most of the INEC facilities have recorded attacks.
Why Polls may be canceled
Explaining why insecurity may impede the conduct of the general polls, Prof. Zuru said, “We all appreciate the fact that election security is vital to democratic consolidation through the provision of enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process.
“Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 general elections, the Commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security is provided for election personnel, materials, and processes.
He added, “This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts of the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members constitute the core of the polling unit election officials.
Therefore, warned that if the insecurity is not nipped in the bud, it could lead to the cancellation or postponement of the process in some constituencies and ultimately will hinder the declaration of results.
It must not be allowed to happen
To arrest the situation, all security agencies and elected officials were called to proffer a lasting solution to the menace if a meaningful election must be conducted.
Assuring the committee of security alertness, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd) has promised that the security agencies will be on top of their game to ensure that a conducive atmosphere is secured for the conduct of the general polls.
“Similarly, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Usman Baba Alkali, has conducted election security management workshops across the six geo-political zones.
“On its part, the Commission, through The Electoral Institute, has institutionalized the development and implementation of a cascaded training mechanism for security personnel as a critical component of its training plan.”
The real-time result is to be uploaded on IReV
Assuring the committee and Nigerians, in general, the credibility of the poll from the INEC, the commission said, that considering the protection offered by the amended Electoral Act, the Commission introduced innovative technologies and procedures and made commitments to Nigerians that continuous verification, accreditation, and voting will be conducted at the polling units using the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) and real-time polling unit-level results will be uploaded on to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS.
“These commitments require innovative security strategies and deployments for the protection of voters, election personnel, materials, equipment, the electoral processes as well as the general public and infrastructure.
“These innovative systems and processes minimize human errors and delays in results collation and improve the accuracy, transparency, and credibility of the results collation process thereby ensuring the credibility of the process.
He added, “They were tested during the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections, held on June 18, 2022, and July 16, 2022, respectively.”
In his contribution, the Director General of The Electoral Institute, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris, emphasized that the Election Security Training Documents will play a critical role in the effective training of security personnel in securing the electoral environment for free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections.