11 offices, 13 vehicles, others lost to attacks – INEC

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said on Thursday the commission lost 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generating sets and 13 utility vehicles to violent attacks in several parts of the country.

Yakubu, who disclosed this at an emergency meeting with security agencies in Abuja, said INEC had recorded 41 attacks in the last two years.

He added that the commission had witnessed 11 attacks in the last four weeks.

The meeting which was put together under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security followed the increasing attacks in the INEC offices in the South-East and other parts of the country.

The forum was attended by the Acting Inspector- General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman; Chief of Defence Staff, Lt.-Gen. Lucky Irabor; Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Audi; Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service, Ibrahim Liman; Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa; and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, among others.

The INEC chairman warned that a disruption to the electoral process would undermine the Nigerian democracy and destabilise the country.

He said: “No doubt, the last few weeks have been very challenging to the commission. The spate of arson and vandalisation targeting the commission’s facilities and property has become a major threat to our scheduled activities and the entire electoral process.

“In the last two years, the commission has recorded a total of 41 incidents involving deliberate attacks on the commission’s facilities. Nine of these incidents happened in 2019 and 21 cases in 2020.

“In the last four weeks, 11 offices of the commission were either set ablaze or vandalised. Two of these incidents were caused by Boko Haram and bandit attacks, while 10 resulted from thuggery during election and post-election violence.

READ ALSO: ATTACKS ON INEC: Buhari not interested in third term – Presidency

“However, the majority of the attacks – 29 out of 41 – were unrelated to election or electoral activities. In fact, 18 of them occurred during the #ENDSARS protests in October last year while 11 attacks were organised by ‘unknown gunmen’ and ‘hoodlums.’

“INEC is presently assessing loss of materials to recent attacks, with the preliminary assessment so far indicating that 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generating sets and 13 utility vehicles had been lost.

“By working together with the security agencies, we can stop these attacks and the wanton destruction of critical electoral assets.

“These attacks, which initially appeared as isolated and occasional actions, have now become more frequent and systematic targeted at demobilising and dismantling critical electoral infrastructure in the country.

“This will not only undermine the commission’s capacity to organise elections and other electoral activities but will also damage the nation’s electoral process and democracy. Indeed, these attacks on the commission’s facilities should now be treated as a national security emergency.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now