Repeated Attacks: INEC seeks Reps nod to classify its facilities as high security facilities

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, on Friday sought the nod of the House of Representatives to classify its facilities as high security facilities across Nigeria.

Yakubu made the appeal in Abuja during the investigation hearing of the the ad-hoc Committee Investigating the Attacks On INEC Offices and Facilities.

He said INEC might not be able to hold election in states where facilities are being repeatedly attacked.

The INEC Chairman noted that out of the 36 states, 15 states have recorded fifty incidents so far.

He urged the National Assembly to expedite action to pass the Electoral Offences Commission Bill, adding that any nation that does not penalize offenders is doomed.

According to him, INEC is saddled with a responsibility that it can not execute, the commission cannot keep replacing destroyed items.

He said Nigeria needed to put a stop to these destructions, adding that the commission had applied for additional budgetary allocation towards the success of the 2023 elections.

In his submission, the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Ahmed Audi, said the various attacks were targeted at the 2023 elections.

He said the Civil Defense had lost men in the crisis, especially in Imo state, adding that one of the reasons for the attack was to prevent INEC from conducting free, fair and credible elections.

“It might disenfranchise some people and cost government money. We have increased deployment of men to curtail the attacks.

“We have also mounted surveillance on facilities across the country, the nature of the attacks are very new in Nigeria.

Similarly, Inspector General of Police, Mr Alkali Baba, said the Nigerian Police were always at the receiving end of the attacks.

He said Imo state and south East Nigeria had been very volatile due to the activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their military wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

“It is a well known fact that we have issues of secession that are bent on stopping elections in the south East.

“There is also the issue of failed politicians who are bent on making sure that the election does not hold. There is also the issue of retired politicians,” he said.

He, however, lamented the lack of synergy and intelligence gathering between the security agencies.

“The police are handicapped as most of the people arrested are connected to people in high places. Police are under-staffed.

“We are not up to 400,000. We lack manpower. We need additional funding for recruitment. We lose personnel everyday and we need to replace,” he said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, while declaring the hearing open, said that the House is disturbed at the systematically orchestrated attacks .

He said this was not only because it posed a threat to INEC’s capacity to conduct the 2023 general elections, but because it was an attack on democratic governance.

He declared the perpetrators of the attacks as enemies of the country, adding that it was on these basis the House unequivocally condemned the nefarious attacks.

He said this also propelled the House to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incessant attacks on INEC facilities.

He said the house is hopeful that at the end of the investigation, the Committee would come up with far-reaching recommendations.

This, he said, would not only bring an end to the unfortunate attacks on the nation’s democracy, but also ensure that the perpetrators of the nefarious acts face the full wrath of the law.

The Chairman of the ad-hoc Committee, Rep. Oluga Oluremi, said the House would look into the issue of inadequate manpower of security agencies as well as other recommendations.

She also urged security forces to be more proactive to prevent further attacks.