The Commission Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has warned that the 2023 elections are in danger if the spate of attacks on INEC offices continues. He made the disclosure on Wednesday at a session with Resident Electoral Commissioners across the country held in Abuja. This follows the recent incessant attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission were orchestrated to undermine the conduct of the next general elections.

Checks revealed that the Commission offices in certain local government areas were torched by arsonists in Essien Udim in Akwa Ibom State, Ohafia in Abia State and Udenu in Enugu State.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu

On Tuesday, the electoral umpire offices in Ebonyi and Ezza North Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State were equally burnt down.

Addressing the gathering of top INEC National Commissioners, RECs and journalists, Professor Yakubu noted that it would be a tall order to replace most of the facilities, ahead of the next general elections. He further noted that it’s scheduled.

Continuous Voters Registration and outstanding by-elections were equally under threat. He said: “Unfortunately, some events in the recent past have challenged the Commission and adversely affected our commitment to continue to improve the electoral process. The spate of arson and vandalisation targeting the commission’s facilities and the property has become profoundly worrisome.  

“Unfortunately, this has been on the rise since the 2019 General Election but has now developed into a crisis. In the last three weeks or so, three of our Local Government offices in Essien Udim in Akwa Ibom State, Ohafia in Abia State and Udenu in Enugu State have been set ablaze by unidentified persons.

Last Sunday, 16th May 2021, our State office in Enugu suffered yet another arson and vandalisation in which parts of the building were ransacked and several vehicles razed. And more of our facilities are being systematically targeted and attacked. Just last night, Tuesday 18th May 2021, two more offices in Ebonyi and Ezza North Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State were burnt down.

“Although there were no casualties, the damage to the physical infrastructure and electoral materials was total. Nothing has been salvaged from ballot boxes and voting cubicles to generating sets and office furniture and equipment.

“Surely, these attacks are no longer freak events but appear to be quite orchestrated and targeted at INEC. Clearly, these are acts of unjustifiable aggression which may undermine the Commission’s capacity to organise elections and dent the nation’s electoral process. The facilities of the commission are there to serve the local communities for the most fundamental aspect of democratic governance, which is elections.”

Therefore, targeting such important national assets and repositories of electoral materials that took time and enormous resources to procure cannot be justified. Replacing these facilities in the prevailing economic circumstances will indeed be a tall order, thereby adversely affecting electoral services in the same communities. These facilities are not only limited to voting but also used for other critical electoral activities such as voter registration, the coordination of stakeholder engagements and voter education and sensitisation.”

Professor Yakubu said his Commission was determined to halt the nefarious activities of the arsonists through collaboration with security agencies. He appealed to the communities where its buildings’ facilities were located and the RECs to be vigilant and protect such facilities.

“The Commission will certainly work with the security agencies to deal with the perpetrators of these heinous crimes according to the law. To this end, a meeting with all the security agencies is holding on Monday 24th May 2021.  

However, it has become imperative to call on all and sundry, particularly communities where these assets are located, to see themselves as owners and custodians of these facilities and assist the Commission in protecting them. I am glad that some of them are already doing so.

“For this reason, I must put on record the fantastic partnership between the Commission and the communities we serve. These communities share with the Commission the commitment to improving electoral services to Nigerians.

They have over the years supported the Commission during all electoral activities from CVR to the conduct of polls. Some of them actually donated the land on which some of our Local Government offices are built. Even in the recent events of arson and vandalisation, many of them have demonstrated exceptional willingness to support the Commission.

For instance, following the vandalisation of our offices in Osun State during the #EndSARS protests in October last year, the Ikirun community in Ifelodun Local Government Area and two communities in Ede South Local Government Area have offered to contribute to the repairs of the offices and promised to work with the Commission to protect them in future.

In the same vein, in Nnewi North in Anambra State, the community has also offered to repair our Local Government office destroyed during the #EndSARS protests. The Commission does not take such partnerships for granted. I wish to thank our host communities in all parts of the country and appeal to them to continue to see INEC property as both national and local assets to be protected.

“In the light of the current circumstances, today’s meeting with RECs, who lead our offices in the States, will take briefings from across the country on threats to INEC facilities and deliberate on how best to protect them. I believe that we can dig deep and draw from the Commission’s longstanding partnership with communities in this regard, in addition to depending on the invaluable support of our security agencies.

Consequently, the challenges posed by these threats notwithstanding, we are still positive that we can find lasting solutions to the spate of attacks on our facilities.  

However, this must be done quickly to forestall disruptions to several upcoming electoral activities, particularly the CVR exercise which we plan to undertake continuously in 2,673 centres nationwide for a period of over one year involving thousands of INEC officials supported by security personnel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: