Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in four months a total of 1,993 ballot boxes, 399 voting cubicles, 22 electric power generators and thousands of uncollected PVCs were, among other materials, destroyed.
INEC, however, lamented there is a limit to its ability to keep replacing wantonly destroyed materials with just 86 days to the general election.
The chairman, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this in Lagos yesterday at an induction retreat for new Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECS).
Yakubu while describing the attacks as mindless attacks, said the attacks must stop and the perpetrators apprehended and prosecuted.
He said, “I want to reassure Nigerians that we will recover from these attacks. The lost materials will be replaced but there is a limit to our ability to keep replacing wantonly destroyed materials with just 86 days until the general elections.
“The security agencies, traditional and community leaders and all well-meaning Nigerians should continue to support the Commission to stop the attacks but the ultimate solution is arrest and prosecution so that vandals and arsonists do not feel that bad behaviour is an acceptable conduct in our country.”
On the attacks on its facilities and the destruction of critical electoral assets in the country, he said, “In the last four months, five Local Government Area offices of the Commission were attacked by yet unknown persons.
“Buildings have been destroyed and materials lost in Udenu and Igboeze North Local Areas of Enugu State, Abeokuta South Local Government of Ogun State, Ede South Local Government Area of Osun State and, most recently, in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.”
He reassured Nigerians that the commission will recover from these attacks.
Yakubu said the lost materials will be replaced but there is a limit to our ability to keep replacing wantonly destroyed materials with just 86 days until the general election.”
He said the security agencies, traditional and community leaders and all well-meaning Nigerians should continue to support the Commission to stop the attacks but the ultimate solution is arrest and prosecution so that vandals and arsonists do not feel that bad behaviour is an acceptable conduct in our country.
“In these mindless attacks, a total of 1,993 ballot boxes, 399 voting cubicles, 22 electric power generators and thousands of uncollected PVCs were, among other materials, destroyed. These attacks must stop and the perpetrators apprehended and prosecuted.
“Let me, therefore, reiterate what I recently told you at your swearing-in as Resident Electoral Commissioners. Our success ultimately depends on our integrity. We should remain independent and impartial.
“As I said on many occasions, the Commission is not a political party. It has no candidates in the forthcoming election. All political parties have equal standing before the Commission. The choice belongs to Nigerian citizens i.e. the electorate. Our responsibility is to uphold the sanctity of the ballot – nothing more nothing less.”
On what the INEC chairman described as the misleading statement shared online that voters can vote on Election Day without the voter’s card, he said it is absolutely incorrect.
Yakubu said for any person to vote in any election organised by the Commission, he/she must be a registered voter issued with a PVC.
He said the Commission has consistently maintained the policy of “no PVC, no voting”.
“Nothing has changed. It is a legal requirement and doing otherwise will be a violation of the law. I appeal to Nigerians to ignore any suggestion to the contrary. For the avoidance of doubt, Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that “a person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a Presiding Officer for accreditation at the Polling Unit in the constituency in which his name is registered”.
“Therefore, the position of the law is clear. The PVC remains a mandatory requirement for voting during elections.”
He stressed that the retreat is significant for many reasons.
“First, it is coming on the eve of the 2023 General Election which is just 86 days away.
“Second, among the 19 RECs sworn in four weeks ago on 3rd November 2022, 14 are new appointees, holding office for the first time. It is therefore imperative for them to familiarise themselves with the Commission and its processes and procedures as a matter of utmost urgency.
“Third, as you familiarise yourselves with the processes and procedures, you will also be implementing activities simultaneously. Already, some sensitive and non-sensitive materials have been delivered to your States ahead of the General Election.”
Yakubu said the retreat, therefore, was deliberately structured to introduce you to the electoral legal framework as well as the processes and procedures for election administration that is increasingly driven by technology from voter registration, voter accreditation and uploading of polling unit level results on Election Day.
Similarly, he said accreditation of observers, the media and polling agents are all done online through dedicated portals.
