The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has tasked Nigerians to help protect the commission’s facilities across the country.
The call follows the recent attacks on INEC facilities in Ebonyi, Ogun, Enugu, Osun, and Imo States.
Speaking at a meeting with the West Africa Elders’ Forum in Abuja, Yakubu said the protection of the commission’s facilities was a collective responsibility.
According to him, “Exactly 81 days today, the 2023 general elections will hold in two phases beginning with the national election (Presidential and National Assembly) holding on Saturday 25th February 2023, followed two weeks later by the State elections (Governorship and State Houses of Assembly) on Saturday, 11th March 2023.
“Our preparations are approaching the concluding stages. We are conducting the 2023 general elections with a new Electoral Act and several innovations in voter accreditation and result management. We are confident in our processes but we will not be complacent. Responsibilities within our control are handled diligently.
“However, there are a few areas of concern, the main one being the prevailing insecurity in the country. In less than two weeks, three of our local government offices were attacked across the country, bringing the total number of such attacks to seven in the last four months.
“While we want to reassure Nigerians that we will recover from these attacks, and the election will proceed as scheduled, we would like to appeal to all citizens to see the commission’s facilities as national assets. It is our collective responsibility to join hands in protecting them. The attacks must stop and the perpetrators swiftly apprehended and prosecuted.”
Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied involvement in the burning of INEC’s facility in Imo State.
Recall that the Imo State Police Command had claimed that the Eastern Security Network and IPOB militants were responsible for the destruction of the INEC office in the Oru West local government on Sunday.
However, in response, Emma Powerful, the media and publicity secretary for IPOB in a statement on Monday, said that the organisation was not involved in the attack.
“We, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu wish to disassociate ourselves from the recent attacks on the INEC office in Owerri Imo State.
“Neither IPOB nor ESN operatives have anything to do with Nigeria’s elections in 2023. We have never supported nor involved ourselves in any election obstruction or violence as a movement.
“As of today, IPOB is not interested in Nigeria and its electoral activities and has never asked anyone to carry out any attack on our behalf.
“Nigeria Government and her security agencies are working day and night to blackmail IPOB’s self-determination movement. There has never been any time that Nigeria Police carried out any public inquiry on all the numerous attacks and arsons that they blamed IPOB for.”
“ESN operatives never attacked the INEC office because we are not interested in this Nigeria’s forthcoming election in 2023. Those attacking INEC facilities are working to blackmail IPOB,” Powerful said.
