The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed concern about the rising insecurity across the country and its likely spillover on the conduct of the February 3 rerun and by-elections.
The INEC boss, who spoke at the first quarterly meeting of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security, urged security agencies to restore order so that the elections could be held in the affected places.
According to him, an election is a multi-stakeholder responsibility.
Yakubu added: “As security agencies, it is your responsibility to secure the environment to enable us deploy personnel and materials, the protection of observers, the media, as well as the polling and collation agents representing the political parties and candidates.
“Without a secure and peaceful environment, the conduct of credible elections is imperilled.
“From experience, the conduct of isolated elections, such as by-elections and re-run elections, can be very challenging. We must pay attention to the potentials for disruptive behaviour by some candidates and their supporters.
“A re-run election conducted in one polling unit or a handful of polling units can be severely disrupted by acts of thuggery, knowing full well that these few locations will determine the outcome of the election.
“Arising from the reports we received from the states, concerns have been raised about the impact of the prevailing insecurity in some states on the conduct of the elections, made worse by incendiary statements by some political actors.”
The INEC chairman stressed that there is no more a single election season in Nigeria as elections are held throughout the year between one general election and another.
He added: “This adds to the enormous pressure on both INEC and the security agencies.
“For instance, in addition to the by-elections and re-run elections holding next week, the commission has also released the timetable and schedule of activities for the two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo State, scheduled for September 21, 2024, and in Ondo State, holding on November 16, 2024.”
“As required by the Electoral Act 2022, party primaries and nomination of candidates shall be done not later than 180 days before the date fixed for the elections. Accordingly, party primaries for Edo State will commence next week and end three weeks later (that is, February 1 to 24, 2024). For Ondo State, the primaries will be held between April 6 and 27, 2024.
“Our collective experience as election managers and security agencies shows that party primaries can sometimes be more acrimonious than general elections. Therefore, as we prepare for the by-elections and re-run elections, we should equally be prepared for the two major elections later this year in Edo and Ondo states.”
Yakubu announced that INEC would first conduct by-elections into national and state legislative houses and later the rerun elections ordered by election petitions tribunals.
The National Security Adviser (NSA) and Co-chairman of Inter-Agency Consultative Election Security (ICCES), Mllam Nuhu Ribadu, announced that the President had always maintained that the ability of security agencies to protect lives and property boosts the credibility of any election.
Ribadu, who was represented by the Director of Internal Security in the Office of the NSA, said the forthcoming by-elections and rerun elections must be held without intimidation and other security threats.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun said the security agencies were aware of the challenges of by-elections and assured Nigerians that they were on top of the situation.
He said the police had conducted a threat analysis in the states where the elections would hold and ensure sufficient personnel to those areas.
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