…INEC insists on use of card reader
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Friday hinted about getting the military involved in providing adequate security for voters and election officials during the Southern Ijaw supplementary governorship elections in Bayelsa State.
Speaking during an interactive session with the Media and Civil Society Organizations in Abuja, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the commission was taking preemptive measures to protect the South Ijaw area where the Bayelsa governorship election re-run has been scheduled for January 9.
He said as part of the efforts to create a conducive environment for the peaceful conduct of the election in the troubled areas in Bayelsa state, the commission said it has already started series of consultations with stakeholders.
He said in spite of the challenges of the card reader, the electronic device remains the best option for credible elections.
Yakubu said that a series of meetings has been held with members of the inter-agency committee over election security since Wednesday, and “one of the things we are going to do is to demand that security agencies are deployed a day or two before the election date in order to help us secure the environment.
“On our part, we believe that the lead agency in election security is the police; but when it feels that the situation is beyond its capacity, it can ask for support from the military,” he said.
Yakubu added that the commission will explore collaboration with the Nigerian Navy in order to ease movement of election materials to the Creeks, as part of measures to check snatching of voting materials and movement of weapons by militants during the Bayelsa election.
Lamenting the intense security situation during the Bayelsa governorship, Yakubu said INEC staff were sandwiched between security gunboats on the sea as they conveyed election materials to polling areas.
-Leadership