The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why it may not be feasible for it to relocate its offices within the premises of local government secretariats across the country.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, listed a number of reasons while speaking at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters.
He said the major source of funds for the commission is the general election budget which follows the electoral cycle and comes only once in four years.
The meeting between the commission and the committee arose from the resolution of the House in the it directed INEC to relocate its offices from local government headquarters across the country and the subsequent summons to brief the House on the number of INEC offices still located within the premises of local government secretariats across the states as well as the commission’s plan to relocate them.
Yakubu said: “Not many Nigerians are aware that the commission manages extensive physical assets across the country. These include 774 functional local government offices, 37 state offices, the commission’s national headquarters (and annex), the electoral institute, eight zonal/sub-zonal stores, and residential quarters for commission members and the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
“In all, the commission maintains over 860 buildings. In addition to the requirements for routine maintenance, some of them are periodically attacked and/or vandalised. The cost of maintenance and reconstruction is huge. The major source of funds is the general election budget which follows the electoral cycle and comes only once in four years.
“Furthermore, availability of land in some parts of the country, particularly the interface between the community and government, is a major challenge.”
The INEC chairman said there was a need for continuous interactions with the state governments and communities to make unencumbered and suitably located land or existing structures available for construction or conversion to INEC’s local government offices.
He suggested that members of parliament could also help the commission in this regard.
According to him, there is the need to make an annual budget for INEC to build and maintain physical assets instead of the periodic provisions tied to electoral cycles.
Yakubu said: “As part of the previous transitional arrangements from military to democratic system of government, military governors in the various states were directed to make offices available to the electoral commission in the state capitals and local government areas. In most of the states, it was found convenient to provide a few rooms in the existing local government secretariats for that purpose.
“Following the democratic transition, some opposition parties and candidates complained that in some instances, officials of the local government areas often denied them access to the commission’s offices during election and electoral activities, such as voter registration, collation of election results and other electoral responsibilities vested in the commission by law.
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“In response to these complaints, the commission began to relocate the offices from the local government areas’ secretariats to locations accessible to all citizens.
“Over the years, the commission designed the prototype of its local government area offices and relocated some of them to guarantee unimpeded access. So far, 715 (92.4 per cent) offices have been relocated from local government secretariats nationwide.
“In secretariats with large expanse of land, the commission constructed its own offices within the premises. Perimeter fences were erected to physically separate the offices from the local government secretariats, including the provision of separate entrances accessible to the public. The commission has been working hard to ensure the relocation of the remaining 59 (7.6 per cent) offices.”