Our Reporter
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, has said that the Federal Government would counter threat to the conduct of the November 6 Anambra governorship election through deployment of security operatives.
Monguno, who spoke yesterday at the third quarterly meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), said the Federal Government would not abdicate its responsibility of securing lives and property.
He said: “With the prevalence of security threats occasioned by dissident separatist groups in the South, who are bent on scuttling the efforts of the government in achieving national cohesion and undermining the democratic processes in the country, the Federal Government will not tolerate any group or persons planning to impede smooth conduct of elections.
“While acknowledging the rights of citizens to express their grievances within the ambit of the law, it is also important to state that the Federal Government will not abdicate its responsibility of securing lives and property as well as securing the environment for the citizens to pursue their means of livelihood.
“In furtherance of the coordinating mandate of the NSA, we are poised to ensure robust deployment before, during and after the election, to counter threats and ensure peaceful conduct of the poll, especially the coming off-cycle Anambra governorship election.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, praised security agencies and members of ICCES for supporting elections and electoral processes in Nigeria.
He said the commission has made arrangement to replace lost movable materials during the attack on its office in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
Yakubu said: “As you are aware, our state office in Awka was attacked, resulting in damage to the building and the destruction of items and facilities for the election, including ballot boxes, voting cubicles, vehicles, generators and non-sensitive materials.
“I am glad to report that we have made arrangement to replace lost movable materials. We are making efforts to rebuild the physical facilities, which will be completed before the election.”
He added: “You may recall that we had an emergency meeting on May 27 in the wake of attacks on our facilities across the country. This was followed by our regular quarterly meeting on June 21 during which we discussed the commission’s plan to resume the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). I am glad that the attacks on our facilities have subsided and the CVR is in its 11th week. Over two million Nigerians have registered online.”
“I want to express the commission’s appreciation to the security agencies and members of ICCES for your continued support to elections and the electoral process in Nigeria. This year alone, the commission has conducted eight by-elections made up of four federal constituencies, three state constituencies and one councillorship constituency in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The last by-election was held about four weeks ago in Kaduna State.
“The next by-election will be held in Delta State. We look forward to the support of the security agencies to ensure that we deliver yet another credible election for Isoko South I State Assembly Constituency this weekend.
“For voter accreditation during the Anambra governorship election, the commission intends to introduce a new technology called the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which has the capability for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation. Over the last three days, we have explained and demonstrated how the new device will work during our consultative meetings with political parties, civil society organisations and the media.
