THE Independent National Electoral Commission yesterday made a plea to Nigerians to view its facilities as national assets and defend them ahead of the 2023 general elections in response to a wave of attacks on its offices in various regions of the nation.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, made the appeal at a meeting with the West Africa Elders’ Forum at INEC’s Abuja headquarters.
The delegation was led by a former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, and a former Vice President of Gambia, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang.
Yakubu said, “There are a few areas of concern, the main one being the prevailing insecurity in the country. In less than two weeks, three of our local government offices were attacked across the country, bringing the total number of such attacks to seven in the last four months.
“While we want to reassure Nigerians that we’ll recover from these attacks, and the election will proceed as scheduled, we’d like to appeal to all citizens to see the commission’s facilities as national assets.
“It’s our collective responsibility to join hands in protecting them. The attacks must stop and the perpetrators must be swiftly apprehended and prosecuted.
“I must add that with respected leaders of the region coming together as elders for credible elections, I’m confident that there’ll be less of mediation in conflict situations and more of election observation missions in peacetime.”
Earlier, Koroma, said they were in Nigeria on a pre-election mediation mission to address issues concerning election success in Nigeria and across the sub-region.
