The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the commission will recover from the recent attacks on its facilities.
Speaking at the induction retreat for resident electoral commissioners held in Lagos on Wednesday, Yakubu, said, “Our responsibility is to conduct elections. I want to assure 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 lost or damaged items in just 86 days to the general elections.”
The Nigerian News reports that within three weeks, three attacks have been carried out on INEC local government facilities in Ogun, Osun and Ebonyi states, with the latest being on Sunday.
Similarly, two weeks ago, the commission had lamented the spate of attacks on its offices, putting the number of INEC offices attacked by hoodlums in 21 states at 50.
To prevent a reoccurrence of these attacks, Yakubu said the commission will work closely with security agencies and traditional rulers.
He, therefore, called for the arrest and prosecution of the culprits, “so that vandals and arsonists don’t feel that behaviour is acceptable in our country”.
“Five local government offices of the commission were attacked by yet unknown persons. Buildings are being destroyed, critical facilities lost”.
“These facilities include a total of 1,992 ballot boxes, 399 voting cubicles and 22 electric-powered generators as well as thousands of uncollected PVCs. These attacks must stop and the perpetrators apprehended and prosecuted.”
While reacting to Sunday’s attack in Ebonyi State, he described the situation as regrettable because the arsonists struck two days after electoral officials relocated to its office in the South-Eastern state.
He also lamented over what he called misleading information in circulation about the possibility of voting without a Permanent Voter’s Card, stressing that the position of the law is clear and no one without PVC will be allowed to vote.
