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File photo: IGP Usman Alkali and INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Monday said if the rising insecurity was not monitored and dealt with, it may lead to cancellation or postponement of 2023 elections in some areas.
Yakubu who spoke at the validation workshop of election security training resources in Abuja on Monday was represented by the Chairman Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), Prof. Abdullahi Zuru.
He said: “If the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of election results and precipitate constitutional crisis.
“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen,” he said.
Yakubu said that adequate security was imperative to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constituted the core of the Polling Unit election officials.
“Therefore, security personnel in particular and all election officials in general must be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times.
“To this end, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno; and the Chairman, INEC have jointly assured the nation that conducive environment will be provided for successful conduct of the 2023 general Election.
“Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, has conducted Election Security Management Workshops across the Six Geopolitical Zones.
“On its part the Commission, through The Electoral Institute, has institutionalised the development and implementation of a cascaded training mechanism for security personnel as a critical component of its training plan.’’
According to him, the technologies and innovations introduced by INEC were essentially to guarantee free, fair and credible polls. He listed them to include the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Results Viewing (IReV) which helps to upload real-time PU result using the BVAS.
He said that all the innovations are backed by the Electoral Act 2022.
He commended security personnel for their conduct during the elections conducted by the commission specifically stand-alone Governorship Elections in Ekiti and Osun, adding that there is still room for improvement.
In his remarks the Director-General, The Electoral Institute (TEI) DR. Sa’ad Idris, said the validation workshop was in line with the Commission’s practice to review Training Manuals and resources.
Idris said that was in line with the 2022 Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of Elections and the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCESS)report on election security.
