Buhari to reactivate destroyed, vandalised INEC facilities

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that notwithstanding the challenges of limited resources, he would do whatever he could to reactivate the destroyed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) facilities across the country.

He also vowed to do all in his power to protect all the operatives of INEC, and to secure their lives and give them enough encouragement to make all the election process as viable as Nigerians want it.

Speaking through the National Security Adviser, Babagana Mongonu, at the deployment of a new state-of-the- art fire engine to the INEC headquarters, by the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Buhari, expressed delight at the gesture and stated that it symbolises the commitment of the agency towards addressing the current issues faced by not just headquarters but all INEC offices.

He said: “President Buhari also, despite the fact that he has very limited resources, has been able to reach out and assist INEC. He has also reassured us that in the weeks to come, he would do whatever he can to reactivate the already destroyed property of INEC. He would do whatever he can to protect all the operatives of INEC and secure their lives and give them enough income to make the election process as viable as we want.”

Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Mahmood Yakubu stated that it has for the first time in 25 years accomplished the task of expanding access to polling units in the country.

To this end, the commission promised that “a comprehensive list of the new polling units will be published next week.”

Similarly, the commission promised that “details of the locations of the registration centres and the procedure for the commencement of online registration will also be made available after a series of regular consultative meetings with stakeholders next week.”

Yakubu expressed delight at the renewed determination by security agencies to collaborate more with the commission following the emergency meeting last week by members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

The INEC boss noted that “the Federal Fire Service has been as concerned as other security agencies about the recent attacks on our offices across the country. This is particularly so because out of the 42 attacks on our facilities nationwide, 18 incidents resulted from arson and three more by a combination of arson and vandaliszation.”