Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) has warned that if attacks on its facilities continue in January and February; it can be difficult to recover.
This was revealed by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Electoral Information and Education Committee, INEC, Mr. Festus Okoye, on Monday in Abuja.
INEC revealed last week that it has suffered 50 attack incidents so far in 2019.
Okoye noted that INEC recently recorded losses in the attack on its Abeokuta South Local Government office in Ogun, and urged that the attacks in 2022 were systematic and coordinated to derail INEC from holding free, fair, credible and transparent, stating that if it continues, it may be difficult to recover.
- “So all these attacks that have occurred, we have the ability to recover and we are going to recover because we are already reprinting the permanent voter cards that were lost during the hell.
- “We are also replacing the voting booths and the ballot boxes that were lost, we are also trying to rent offices for which we cannot repair.
- “But if these attacks continue into January and February, it may be difficult for us to recover from those attacks.
He also noted that candidates must meet before that candidate can be declared the winner of any election and INEC has obtained guarantees from security agencies.
- “This is because if you look at section 134 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, it has a threshold that a candidate must reach before that candidate can be declared the winner of any election.
- “So we don’t want these attacks to continue, we don’t want them to continue.
- “But we have the assurance of the different security agencies that they will dominate the environment, neutralize these attacks”.
He added that INEC has made it clear to the government that all its offices must be declared high priority.
- “So we don’t want any distractions at this time and that is why we have made it very clear to the National Assembly that all INEC offices must and should be declared as high priority areas in need of adequate protection and security.
- “The Nigerian people deserve to go into the elections with a clear conscience, with a clear mind. We don’t want people to go into the election with fear and anxiety because that won’t make the election credible.
- “But in terms of our own preparations, in terms of fulfilling our mandate to organize, conduct and monitor the elections, we are aware of the situation and we are not going to let the Nigerian people down,” he said.
In case you missed it
Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission revealed that he has suffered 50 attack incidents so far since 2019.
INEC revealed this in an infographic statement posted on Friday night via Twitter and seen by Nairametrics.
The year 2020 saw the most attacks at 22, while 2022 saw the fewest attacks at 8.
- INEC revealed that the 8 attacks in 2022 occurred in only 5 states, which are Ogun, Osun, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi.
- All causes of this year’s attacks were labeled as “Unknown Gunmen/Mobsters.”
- Imo state had the most attacks this year, with 3, at the INEC LGA offices in Orlu, Oru West and Owerri.