Concerned About Election Violence, INEC Looks For Quick Action To Reverse Trend

Just over three months out from the presidential and legislative elections in Nigeria, the electoral authorities issued a warning on Friday over the possibility of increased campaign violence.

Mahmood Yakuba, the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reported that since the start of the campaign little over a month ago, the organization has kept track of 50 attacks around the nation.

The INEC chairman stated in a statement that “the commission is concerned that if no quick and decisive actions are taken, the attacks would accelerate as we approach the election date.”

“We must act swiftly to stop the undesirable trend.”

Nigeria’s election to elect a new president in February 2023 is anticipated to be close.

A day after two of its election offices in the southwest were assaulted and set on fire, INEC conducted an emergency meeting on Friday.

“The political class may be the group most important to securing free and fair elections.
We must all step up to the plate.
Nigerians are keeping an eye on us,” added Yakuba.

With Nigeria’s military forces battling Islamists in the northeast, armed bandit gangs in the northwest and central regions, and separatist agitators in the southeast, security will be a key election topic.

As the election draws near, the biggest economy in Africa has been severely hurt by the coronavirus epidemic, the effects of the war in Ukraine, and its worst flooding in ten years, which has had an impact on agricultural production.