MARGARET CHIDERA
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has called on security agencies in the country not to allow themselves to be elements of electoral fraud.
INEC observed that fingers have often been pointed and aspersions cast on the security agencies as a result of their alleged willingness to make themselves manipulative tools in the hands of overzealous political actors, adding that some of them are usually ready-made state machinery for perpetuating the evil.
Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the commission stated this at a seminar on the role of security personnel and inter-agency collaboration in the electoral process, organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), in Abuja on Tuesday.
Yakubu, who was represented by Labari Nduh, the INEC Director of Security, said those who plan to constitute a clog in the wheel of the electoral progress of the country should be made to face the consequences of their actions.
He said: “In the immediate past, there are some reported case of some politicians deploying their personal security attaches to disrupt elections on various fronts. Some observer groups in such occasions also allege cases of the use of fake soldiers as well as the infiltration of some of the security formations by off-duty security personnel.
“It is discovered that security men have truncated the efforts of Nigerians to choose good leaders and to let the results of the pools reflect the wishes of the voters.
“These are some of the allegation security authorities must take seriously, investigate and put measures in place to forestall in order to redeem the image of the agencies and guarantee the integrity of the democratic process.
“However, there was a significant improvement in the conduct of security personnel and a clear departure from the past, especially during the just concluded Ekiti & Osun governorship election. We are persuaded to urge them to keep up the tempo as the 2023 general election approaches.
“We are pleased with the reports of that election which indicated that, overall, the conduct of security personnel showed that 90 per cent of security personnel deployed on election duty were of good conduct.
“National security should be of priority and uppermost in our minds. All the parties must embrace the virtues of democracy. Security agents should not allow any person or group of persons to disrupt the election no matter how highly placed. Let the will of the people prevail.”
The INEC chairman stressed that there are rules of engagement security agents must observe during elections, hence they must understand the timetable for the conduct of each election as well as know the dramatis personae in every election.
“They must be able to identify the forms used in each election and be familiar with the purpose of each form. And this can only be possible through special training for security personnel deployed for elections.
“In our considered opinion, it will be a prescription for chaos when security personnel not trained in the intricacies of election conduct are deployed to monitor the exercise.
It is our considered opinion that security operatives must also know the collation process. This is because manipulation of elections does not only occur at polling units, but figures are doctored at the collation level.
“It is, thus, necessary for the security operatives to know the steps involved in the collation of results. At the ward level, collation involves bringing together poll results from individual polling units for the purpose of adding them up.
“Another essential point which security operatives should have a general knowledge of is the constituents of electoral offences.
“Without a working knowledge of what constitutes electoral offences, security operatives may be helpless in preventing them. Election officials are not trained to deal with crimes. Therefore, the involvement of security operatives becomes pivotal,” he added.
Marija Peran, acting country representative (Nigeria), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, said growing insecurity in Nigeria can likely have several effects on the elections and in the worst case undermine the election results.
“The scale of the insecurity has reached a degree that threatens the very fabric of Nigerian society. With the general elections 2023 ahead matters are even more pressing.
“This shows the necessity for early intervention geared towards taming these threats which would in return encourage political participation and give the election outcomes legitimacy.
“The importance of having a secured environment for elections in Nigeria is not new because insecurity threats can affect an election’s conduct and outcomes.
“As we all know, in democratic nations, security agencies play a vital role as the watchdog of society with constitutional role of protecting lives and properties,” he added.
