Safiu Kehinde
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged its security committee over safety of personnel and election materials ahead of the Re-run and bye- elections set to hold next week.
This was just as the commission raised some concerns over insecurity in some areas where the elections are to be conducted.
The Chairman of the Commission , Mahmood Yakubu, had, in a meeting held earlier today with the Inter-Agency Consultation Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES) at Abuja, urged the security agencies attached to the electoral body to brace themselves ahead of the elections, stressing that the conduct of bye-elections and Re-run elections can be very challenging.
In his address, Yakubu noted that these elections, which he labelled “isolated elections” can be severely disrupted by act of thuggery performed by some candidates and their supporters.
His words; “As you are all aware, election is a multi-stakeholder responsibility. INEC has a role to play. So too are other stakeholders.
“As security agencies, it is your responsibility to secure the environment to enable us deploy personnel and materials, the protection of observers, the media as well as the polling and collation agents representing the political parties and candidates. Without a secure and peaceful environment, the conduct of credible elections is imperiled.
“From experience, the conduct of isolated elections such as bye-elections and re-run elections can be very challenging. We must pay attention to the potentials for disruptive behaviour by some candidates and their supporters.
“A re-run election conducted in one Polling Unit or a handful of Polling Units can be severely disrupted by acts of thuggery knowing full well that these few locations will determine the outcome of the election.”
Meanwhile, Yakubu disclosed that the Commission has provided to the Nigeria Police Force, the full information of the locations where the elections will be held.
As stated by the INEC Chairman, there are two categories of the elections which are the bye-elections and re-run elections.
While the bye-elections affects two Senatorial Districts, four Federal Constituencies and three State Assembly Constituencies, the re-run elections will hold in 39 Constituencies which cut across both National and State Constituencies.
However, Yakubu implored the Security Agencies to put into their plan, the forthcoming Gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo states which are scheduled for 21st September, 2024 and 16th November, 2024 respectively.