BY Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Center for Development and Democracy (CDD) have advocated for improved security in some part of the country against the 2023 general elections.
The call was made in Abuja yesterday, during an expert meeting on conducting Nigeria’s 2023 general election in Volatile Security Environment.
They also urged government to ensure a secured and peaceful environment ahead of the general election.
In his welcome address, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu said the meeting is relevant because of the volatile security situation in some parts of the country and its implications on the forthcoming elections.
“It is timely because the election is fast approaching but there is still time to address the security concerns ahead of the election and I believe that arising from the shared experience of participants at this meeting, specific recommendations will be made to further enrich our understanding of the security issues in the forthcoming election”
Yakubu commended CDD for providing a platform by bringing together experts, senior security officials and the INEC leadership to share experience and discuss security concerns ahead of the 2023 General Election, CDD hopes to kickstart further collaborative engagements among stakeholders around the security challenges ahead of the election.
He explained that the various dimensions of the challenges and most importantly possible measures to respond to them to ensure that elections peacefully hold nationwide as required by law.
“Recently the office of the Inspector General of Police organised a nationwide capacity-building for police personnel on election security. The Police was not only motivated by the same concern of ensuring a secure environment for the election but also enhancing the professionalism of police personnel on election duty.
“Once again, I appreciate the CDD for organizing this meeting and thank the security agencies and other stakeholders for supporting this initiative,he said .
The Director Centre for Development and Democracy name ;Idayat Hassan said the meeting was held against the background of the different insecurity plaguing the country, ranging from the separatist agitation in the Southeast, the banditry and jihadist in the northwest and Boko Haram insurgency that is still raging in the North East itself.
“We have to start talking about how to deescalate the tension and to how secure the environment, such that the Independent National Electoral Commission will be able to assess all areas of the country to conduct a peaceful and legitimate elections come 2023.
“In this election, the security of election materials, the security of personnel, the security of voters actually in contest and the ability to assess all areas matters,there are actually problems.But we should also note that this is not just an INEC problem, this is a stakeholders problem.
“The security are already prevailing. The challenge we are having is how do we conduct elections against the background of this prevailing insecurity, and it will behold on the federal government and other stakeholders to come in.
“Of course, the security forces were already doing some work in terms of reducing tension and bringing sanity to this parts of the country to hasting it up such that elections can be held peacefully and voters can actually exercise their franchise during this elections,” she said.
In his goodwill message, British High Commissioner, Catriona Laing,said security is a top priority for the UK partnership here in Nigeria and it will become of increased importance over the coming six months.
“Strengthening delivery of peace and security is one of a number of initiatives we are part of with Nigerian and other international stakeholders and partners.
“Nigeria is facing more challenges than ever before to deliver a peaceful and secure election. But at the same time the demand for democracy and change especially among Nigerians rapidly expanding youth population and women across the country continues to grow.”
