INEC calls for increased security measures for the next month’s elections

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, has urged security services to offer sufficient security for the impending byelections and rerun polls in select regions of the nation.

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Yakubu made the request on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, or ICCES.

He announced that there will be two types of elections in February. The first is a set of bye-elections that result from the resignation or death of members of the State and National legislatures, which will impact two Senatorial Districts, four Federal, and three State Assembly Constituencies.

The rerun elections mandated by the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals, he noted, constitute the second group.

Recall that the head of INEC stated that 35 National and State Constituencies would be impacted by the elections during an emergency meeting with political party leaders last month.

According to what he said on Tuesday, the Commission has since received four more orders from the Court of Appeal concerning the Yabo/Shagari Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, the Madara/Chinade State Constituency of Bauchi State, the Kudan and Kauru/Chawai State Constituencies of Kaduna State.

“With 39 constituencies affected overall, this represents 2.6% of the 1,491 constituencies for which elections were held nationally in the 2023 General Election,” he stated.

“The nine bye-elections are new elections that take place across all of the constituencies.”

“However, a few Polling Units will hold rerun elections, with the exception of three Constituencies (Plateau North Senatorial District, Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency in Plateau State, and Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency in Kaduna State). According to him, there are instances where a single Polling Unit within a Federal or State Constituency is impacted.

As ICCES members, it is your responsibility to make sure the elections are secure. For this reason, the complete list of polling places, broken down by State, Local Government Area, Registration Area/Ward, and Polling Unit, has already been sent by the Commission to the Nigeria Police Force, which is in charge of overseeing election security.

In a similar vein, we have disclosed the total number of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and registered voters in each polling place.

“At this meeting, additional ICCES members will be given access to the same information.” Following this meeting, the revised data will also be posted for public consumption on the Commission’s website and social media accounts.

It is your duty as security agencies to ensure that the atmosphere is safe for us to deploy people and supplies, as well as to protect observers, the media, and the polling and collation agents who work on behalf of the political parties and candidates. Credible elections cannot be conducted in a setting that is safe and peaceful.

We know from experience that holding special elections, such bye-elections and reruns, can be extremely difficult. We have to be mindful of the possibility that certain candidates and their backers may act disruptively.