Situation Room warns against internet outages ahead of Nigerian elections

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Thursday informed the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) that it will be held responsible for any network issues and internet outages on election day.

Situation Room Convener, Ene Obi who stated this in Abuja while presenting the group pre-election findings, said it was important to inform the commission in time as a key stakeholder in the process.

Ene said: “For the first time, the BVAS will be deployed nationwide in a general election. This makes the National Communications Commission (NCC) a key stakeholder in the process.

“The Commission will be held responsible for any network issues and internet outages on election day. Security agencies are expected to deploy adequately to hotspots as identified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders to forestall violence.

She disclosed that the body has received reports of delays of training of ad hoc staff across the country, delays in the deployment of materials such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to the States, and shortages in the number of ad hoc staff available for the elections.

Adding: “The Situation Room is particularly concerned about the last-minute redeployment of staff in some States and considers this action as very disruptive to effective election management.

“The Situation Room is also worried about how the Commission is managing the Naira scarcity caused by the Naira Swap Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Reports received by the Situation Room indicate that INEC LGA officials in many States are still awaiting the disbursement of election funds a few days before the general election.

She called on the political parties to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner and to discourage violence by their supporters, adding that parties and their candidates will need to uphold the spirit and contents of the Peace Accord they have appended their signatures to.

“They have a moral and legal obligation to abide by this agreement, and there will be consequences for reneging on the agreement in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act,” Obi added.

Obi also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the agencies of government that are involved with the elections deliver on their responsibilities, particularly the CBN which introduced the Naira Swap Policy very close to the elections.