THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday, disclosed that some of its officials were abducted and raped during last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
It has also fixed March 9, 2019 for supplementary National Assembly elections in areas that suffered violent disruption of the electoral process last Saturday.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter’s Education Committee, Festus Okoye, made the disclosure in a communique at the end of a meeting between the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and Resident Electoral Commissioners, on Thursday.
President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday received Certificates of Return as winners of the election from INEC.
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Okoye noted that elections could not be concluded in certain locations due to disruptions and deliberate non-compliance with the use of the Smart Card Reader (SCR), contrary to the INEC regulations and guidelines for conduct of elections.
On the violence that disrupted last weekend’s elections in certain states, the commission blamed the police for the security lapses and said it was determined to open discussions with the acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to guarantee security of its officials, materials and voters ahead of next Saturday’s polls.
The communique reads in part: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met on Thursday, 28 February, 2019 with its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to review the presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday, 23 February, 2019 and assess preparations for the governorship, state House of Assembly and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections slated for Saturday, 9 March, 2019.
“The meeting acknowledged the delays in the commencement of elections in a number of polling units which necessitated the extension of the closing of polls in the affected areas. The commission is determined to rectify the identified challenges before the elections on March 9.
“The meeting noted a number of cancellations in certain areas due to violence, which prevented the commission from deploying personnel and materials for the elections. In a number of locations, it could not conclude the elections due to disruptions and deliberate non-compliance with the use of the Smart Card Reader (SCR), contrary to the INEC regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections.
“Consequently, the meeting decided that supplementary elections will be conducted in all areas where elections did not take place and/or where returns could not be made on Saturday, 9 March, 2019 alongside the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.
“The meeting also assessed the role of security agencies in the elections. While acknowledging their professionalism in the deployment of election personnel and materials in a safe and timely manner, the conduct of certain members of the security agencies in some states is a matter of serious concern to the commission. This matter will be further discussed directly with the Inspector-General of Police within the ambit of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in preparation for the governorship, state Houses of Assembly and FCT area council elections.
“Although the elections were generally peaceful, the meeting observed and decried the high level of violence in a few places, which regrettably led to fatalities in some states, in addition to the subjugation of some of our electoral officials to threats, harassment, intimidation, assault, abduction and even rape.
“The commission condoles with the families of its ad-hoc staff who lost their lives while on this national assignment, as well as other Nigerians who died in the course of the elections. It also expresses its deep regrets to and sympathy for all victims of this mindless violence. We stand with them in these difficult times.
“The RECs were directed to submit comprehensive reports of these incidents to the commission for appropriate action.
“The meeting also considered and received updates on preparations for the elections slated for Saturday, 9 March, 2019. It expressed satisfaction with the level of preparedness and the deployments of sensitive and non-sensitive materials scheduled for delivery to the Registration Area Centres (RACS) on Friday, 8 March, 2019 and noted that this was on course.
“Going forward, RECs were further directed to engage with and provide regular updates to stakeholders on the state of preparations for the elections.”
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