The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has called on the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to urgently convene a meeting with the service chiefs to address security concerns.
The Situation Room, in a statement signed by its Convener, Ene Obi, on Friday, while commending the extension of the collection of permanent voter cards, however, expressed worry that security agencies were yet to sufficiently dispelled security concerns across the country.
Obi, therefore, called on the Federal Government and Buhari to call together the service chiefs and deliberate on providing security, in order to keep its promise of conducting the elections, as scheduled.
The group said, “Taking into cognisance the statement of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that the position of the Federal Government remains that the 2023 General Elections will be held as planned; the Situation Room, therefore, calls on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Service Chiefs to urgently convene to address these security concerns.
The group also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intensify its training of ad-hoc staff, particularly in the use of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System, (BVAS), adding that the Commission must also continue voter education and awareness to discourage vote-buying and selling, as was observed during the Ekiti and Osun elections in 2022.
The group also urged INEC to do everything in its power to ensure the smooth conduct of elections, while also urging registered voters to go and collect their PVCs ahead of the general elections.
