We may be forced to cancel the Upcoming Election – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a severe threat to call off the upcoming general election if the nation’s general level of insecurity does not decrease.

Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, reportedly said that the upcoming election stands a severe threat of cancellation if the insecurity across the nation doesn’t get better when speaking at the validation of election security training resources on Monday in Abuja.

“We all appreciate the fact that Election Security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process,” said Yakubu, who was represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru.

“Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 General elections, the Commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security are provided for election personnel, materials and processes.

“This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps NYSC members constitute the core of the Polling Unit Election officials.

“Moreover, 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 elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis.

“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. 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, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has conducted Election Security Management Workshops across the Six Geopolitical Zones.

“On its part the Commission, through The Electoral Institute, has institutionalized the development and implementation of a cascaded training mechanism for security personnel as a critical component of its training plan”.

The Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS), he said, will be used at polling units to conduct continuous verification, accreditation, and voting. Real-time polling unit-level results will also be uploaded on to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS, he said, adding that the Commission was encouraged by the protection provided by the amended Electoral Act.

“These commitments require innovative security strategies and deployments for protection of voters, election personnel, materials, equipment, the electoral processes as well as the general public and infrastructure.

“These innovative systems and processes minimize human errors and delays in results collation and improves the accuracy, transparency, and credibility of the results collation process thereby ensuring credibility of the process.

“They were tested during the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections, held on June 18, 2022 and July 16, 2022, respectively”, he added.