The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, says plans are underway to relocate its offices in vulnerable areas.
He said this while assuring that the commission will recover from attacks on its facilities and conduct the 2023 elections.
Yakubu made this known on Friday while making a submission before the House Ad-hoc committee investigating the attacks on the Commission’s facilities.
He however warned that the attacks must as it had witnessed 50 incidences in 15 states since 2019.
Yakubu informed the committee that “while the commission is working to replace damaged or lost items as a result of the attacks, it cannot be doing that forever to conduct elections.”
He added that INEC is working on use of technology and collaborating with security agencies to do everything to stop the attacks on its facilities.
He further stressed that despite the seeming threat to the 2023 elections and the spate of attacks by criminals on its facilities, the commission is confident that such attacks will not stop the conduct of the elections.
In his remark, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Leke Abejide, said the investigation was prompted by a motion brought before the House on the ‘Need To Condemn The Attacks On Offices and Facilities OF The Independent National Electoral Commission’.
He said, “The House had noted the frequent systemic attacks on personnel, offices and facilities of INEC, which are presumably, targeted at crippling the commission and scuttling the 2023 general elections”.
