· Says insecurity could hinder declaration of election results
· Tasks security agencies on election security
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has expressed concerns over the degenerating security situation in the country, and warned that the 2023 general elections may be either cancelled or postponed if the current security challenges are not checked
INEC warned that the growing wave of election-related insecurity across the country may lead to a constitutional crisis especially if the elections fail to hold as planned, adding that the development could hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis, the electoral umpire called for concerted efforts to stem the tide of violence.
It would be recalled that the commission has been the major target in the rising insecurity, which over 50 attacks at its offices in different parts of the country, within the past three months
Chairman, Board of The Electoral Institute TEI, Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, raised the alarm during the institute’s validation of election security training resources on Monday in Abuja.
He said, “We all appreciate the fact that Election Security is vital to democratic consolidation through 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 are provided for election personnel, materials and processes.
“This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps NYSC members constitute the core of the Polling Unit Election officials.
“Moreover, if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis.
“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, Security Personnel in particular and all election officials in general must be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times.
“To this end, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno and the Chairman, INEC have jointly assured the nation that conducive environment will be provided for successful conduct of the 2023 general Election.
“Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has conducted Election Security Management Workshops across the Six Geopolitical 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”.
He however assured that the commission will utilize the opportunity offered by the amended Electoral Act to introduced innovative technologies and enhance the procedures for verification, accreditation and voting at the polling units using the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) and assured that polling unit 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 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 improves the accuracy, transparency, and credibility of the results collation process thereby ensuring credibility of the process.
“They were tested during the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections, held on June 18, 2022 and July 16, 2022, respectively”, he added.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Director General of The Electoral Institute, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris emphasized that the Election Security Training Documents would play a very critical role in the effective training of Security Personnel in securing the electoral environment for free, fair, credible and inclusive elections.g