The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monday said it had devised a new security system that would address the challenges facing the conduct free and fair elections in the country.
Speaking while receiving a delegation of Benin Electoral Commission led by the Benenoire Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Onyedipo Falaye in his office in Abuja yesterday, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, said the commission had established an inter-agency committee on security that will take care of security concerns at the national, state and local government levels.
“INEC succeeded in formulating the security system. We have inter-agency committee on security both at national and down to local government level. There are representatives of the army, the police and other security agencies, and the security meeting is hold on regular basis,” he said.
Yakubu who attributed the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections to the deployment of technology, stressed on the need for adequate security in the conduct of an election.
The INEC boss further stated that security has become very necessary for the attainment of a free and fair election, adding that there can no free and fair election where there is insecurity.
Yakubu promised that INEC would assist its Benin Republic counterpart to develop its information technology (IT) ahead of next year’s general election.
“The changes that made the (2015) election success was IT, beginning with voter registration, collation and transmission of results,” Professor Yakubu disclosed.
The Benin Republic general election holds on February 28, 2016, and INEC promised to share the experiences and ideas that enabled it succeed in the last general elections with members of Benin Republic electoral commission.
In his remarks, Ambassador Falaye said the delegation was in INEC “to understudy the secret behind the success of the commission in the last general elections.”
He said his country would be ready to explore areas of cooperation and capacity building between the two commissions.
While commending INEC on the success of last general election,Faleye said Benin Electoral Commission would like to take it to higher level. Ambassador Falaye said his country’s electoral commission as presently constituted, has members serving a single term of seven years without a renewable mandate, which makes it different from the previous ones, which has been on ad hoc basis.
