With barely forty-four days to the commencement of the forthcoming general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has raised the alarm over the rising security situation across the country and its resultant impact.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, who spoke at the validation of election security training resources, which was held in Abuja yesterday, noted that the forthcoming election faces serious threat of cancellation should the insecurity across the country fail to improve.
Yakubu, represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, explained that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of election results and precipitate constitutional crisis”.
The Commission, however, assured Nigerians that it would not leave anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security are provided for election personnel, materials and processes.
According to Mahmoud, “This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts of the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps members constitute the core of the polling unit election officials. This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen.
“Therefore, security personnel in particular and all election officials, in general, must be security-conscious and be on the alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times”.
