W/Africa Electoral Bodies, Others Worried Over Insecurity, Armed Conflict – INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said electoral Commissions in West Africa and beyond have expressed concern about the impact of prevailing insecurity on the conduct of elections.

Consequently, the commission said a 9-nation conference of Electoral Commissions and election experts is holding this week in Ouagadougou involving the host, Burkina Faso, as well as Benin Republic, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo from West Africa; and the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo from Central Africa.

INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at a meeting with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) held at the conference room, INEC Headquarters, Abuja yesterday.

Yakubu stressed that the commission appreciates UNOWAS work in the areas of preventive diplomacy, political mediation, and facilitation in West Africa and the Sahel. “These are critical conditions for peace. Election Management Bodies are major beneficiaries of your work. This is because elections and electoral activities cannot be successfully conducted in an atmosphere of violence.