The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has said that the attacks amongst political parties at campaigns and denial of access to public facilities for electioneering activities were prelude to violence on Election Day and beyond.
The Commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who raised the concern at the third quarterly meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in Abuja, also called on security agencies and other stakeholders to “tackle the smoke before it snowballs into a major inferno’.
He suggested that beyond vote-buying, there must also be decisive action against negative mobilisation, incitement and violence during the campaigns.
The INEC chairman said as the 2023 general election approaches, the Commission will continue to appraise the security situation in the country and its possible impact on the conduct of elections. According to him, the effective enforcement of the Electoral Law was the best way to deal with the menace and called for collaborative effort to ensure the arrest and prosecution of violators of the provisions of especially sections 92 -93 of the Electoral Act 2022.
Yakubu further disclosed that INEC is currently working to harmonise its Election Risk Management (ERM) and Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT), for a more effective risk assessment and mitigation measures ahead of the general election.
The Professor said the Commission will continue to share information with the security agencies and most importantly, work together to ensure that elections hold peacefully nationwide as scheduled.
On his part, Mohammed Babagana-Monguno, the National Security Adviser (NSA) and co-chairman of ICCES, said security agencies were strategising new measures to counter the rising wave of violence in the polity.
Represented by one Sanusi Galadima, the NSA expressed hope that the second phase of the signing of “Peace Accord”, by the National Peace Committee (NPC) scheduled for January, 2023, will be fruitful in deescalating the violent trend.