INEC RAISES SECURITY ALARM OVER 2023 ELECTIONS

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again raised a red flag on the 2023 elections.

It said the prevailing security threats to the electoral process were more than those of 2019 general elections.

According to the commission, 42 of its facilities have been attacked in 14 states across the federation.

It also expressed concerns over lack of internal democracy in political parties and the unwilling nature of political actors to accept electoral outcomes.

These fears are contained in INEC Strategic Plan 2022-2026 which was unveiled by the commission's Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

Extracts from the 160-page document gave insights into the challenges facing INEC ahead of the 2023 poll.

INEC says: "In the past several months, the security situation in the country has assumed worrying dimensions.

The Commission's assets and facilities, being spread across all the 774 LGAS (local government areas) and state capitals in the country, have come under various forms of security threats including vandalism and arson.

"In more specific terms, across the six geopolitical zones, the threat levels have gone far beyond what obtained during the 2014 general election.

"A total of forty-two (42) attacks across fourteen (14) states nationwide from 2019 to date have suddenly raised serious security threats to the commission's assets and personnel. While details of these attacks are presented in the figure below, the physical security of the commission's offices, personnel and assets need now be taken as seriously as election security has been.

Although the attacks have considerably waned in the past few weeks, it is important to now fully integrate security considerations in all phases of the activities of the commission."