Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has promised to put a stop to the idea of having elections postponed at the eleventh hour because of logistics challenges.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Abuja on Friday during the inauguration of the Electoral Logistics Committee (ELoC) for the 2023 general election.
It will be recalled that the 2015 presidential election earlier scheduled to hold on February 14 was postponed and it was later held on March 28 while the 2019 presidential election that was also fixed for February 16 was postponed at the eleventh hour and it was later held on February 23 .
Yakubu noted that the ELoC committee was different from the commission’s Electoral Operations and Logistics Committee (EOLC), which is a standing committee headed by a national commissioner.
‘The ELoC is an inter-agency committee established close to general elections for a specific objective. It is, therefore, ad hoc in nature.
We are determined that never again should elections be postponed at the eleventh hour on account of logistics’ he said.
The establishment of the committee was according to him part of INEC’s effort to ensure the speedy and safe delivery of huge quantities of sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the 2023 general election.
‘The logistics for the clearance, handling, custody, delivery and distribution of enormous quantities of election materials is the biggest operation Nigeria undertakes every four years.
For effective coordination, the commission believes that every national asset must be mobilized. For the movement of election materials and protection of personnel nationwide, section 27(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022 empowers the commission to seek for the support of the armed forces.
Accordingly, the three armed services (Army, Navy and Air Force) are members of the ELoC. Similarly, the Nigeria Police Force, being the lead agency in election security, is also a member, as well as sister security agencies.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) are also members, pursuant to their statutory responsibilities for the clearance and release of materials at seaports and other entry points in the country’ he added.
Yakubu also said the country’s airports, aviation agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Air Space Management Agency (NAMA), among others, play important roles, including the facilitation of access to all airports nationwide for shuttle services ahead of elections as the need arises.
He urged members of the committee to hit the ground running immediately and make periodic reports available through the chairman of the committee, who is an INEC national commissioner- Team@orientactualmags.com
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