Attacks on INEC offices and personnel

 

There is no gainsaying that democracy is endangered in Nigeria. This is because institutions of governance are under ceaseless attacks by arsonists and gunmen. For some time now, after the gargantuan losses incurred during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests when scores of police stations, courts, and prisons were burnt or vandalised, there is now a resurgence of similar attacks in the South-East and South-South zones of the country. Unfortunately, the scope of the attacks has expanded to include the assets of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

This newspaper in its last Friday, May 14, 2021 edition chronicled the number of INEC’s offices that have either been razed or attacked by hoodlums and it is very staggering. The number was then put at 19; that was before last Sunday’s attack on INEC’s state office in Enugu State where six operational vehicles were burnt.

According to The PUNCH, a breakdown of the fire incidents showed that the most affected states include Akwa Ibom (four), Abia (three) Anambra (two) and Imo (two). Other states that witnessed fire incidents between February 2019 and May 2021 are Borno, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kano, Ondo, Plateau and Rivers. Abuja was also affected. If I add the last two attacks in two INEC offices in Enugu as well as additional two that took place in Ebonyi State earlier today the number will be 23. So, while 14 offices were burnt down by hoodlums, nine others were gutted by fire under mysterious circumstances or by electrical fault. In all cases, however, no one has been prosecuted for the vandalism and arson yet. This is worrying.

Calculations by the newspaper showed that the destruction is in billions of naira. For instance, on February 12, 2019, shortly before the general election, two containers containing 4,695 smart card readers were destroyed along with other sensitive materials in a mysterious fire at the Anambra State headquarters of INEC. The commission estimated in its budget that each card reader cost N167, 063 while each memory card cost N6,000. The PUNCH had estimated that based on INEC’s budget for such sensitive materials, the loss incurred was about N847m which also included batteries and Secure Access Module cards.

Similarly, on September 10, 2020, just before the Ondo State governorship election, about 5,141 card readers were destroyed in a fire at the INEC head office in Akure. Based on the budget estimates, the Akure fire is expected to have cost INEC nothing less than N900m. Weeks before the election on February 3, 2019, the INEC office in Isiala-Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State was burnt down in mysterious circumstances. In the same state, the commission’s facilities in Arochukwu LGA was vandalised in October 2020 while that of Aba South was completely burnt in December. The electoral body’s office in Ohafia was also set ablaze on May 9, 2021 while the one in the Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom was razed on May 2, 2021. Items destroyed include 345 ballot boxes, 135 voting cubicles, megaphones, water tanks and office furniture.

On the eve of the 2019 general election, INEC’s newly constructed prototype local government office in Ibesikpo Asutan was burnt down, while two more offices in Mkpat Enin and Eastern Obolo LGAs were also bombed. In Ebonyi, on March 9, 2019, INEC’s Registration Area Centre at Ezza North LGA was set ablaze by hoodlums. On February 10, 2019, its office in Qua’anpan LGA was gutted by fire while ballot boxes, cubicles, PVCs and other sensitive materials were burnt. The fire was said to have been caused by negligence. At the INEC headquarters, Abuja, the Department of Electoral and Party Monitoring was completely burnt on April 17, 2020, while in Kano, on April 20, 2021, the data processing centre was burnt along with the voter register, laser jet printers, computers, inverters and other items.

As costly as these loses are, more worrisome are the physical and psychological attacks on INEC poll officials during electoral activities. During the 2019 General Election in Rivers State, an INEC ad hoc worker, Amakiri Ibisaki, was murdered by unknown gunmen. In the post-election violence of 2011, the nine corps members working as ad hoc staff murdered. They were, Adewumi Seun (Ekiti), Teidi Tosin (Kogi), Adowei Elliot (Bayelsa), Okpokiri Obinna (Abia), Gbenjo Ayotunde (Osun), Ukeoma Chibuzor (Imo), Nkwazema Chukwuonyerem (Imo), Adeniji Jehleel (Osun) and Akonyi Sule (Kogi).

Apart from murder, several INEC employees have been abducted only to be released after the elections, while some have been physically assaulted, traumatised and molested. Recall the claim by Prof.  Ibeabuchi Izuchukwu Innocent of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, the returning officer for Imo West (Orlu) senatorial zone during the 2019 General Election, that he was held hostage for days and also had to announce the result of the senatorial election under dress. Even, some of the INEC’s national commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners are sometimes wrongfully indicted by politicians all in a bid to cow them to do their biddings.

It is yet unknown if INEC has its offices nationwide insured. I only know that the commission often claims to have insured its staff during the elections. What about after elections? This is a wake-up call for INEC to take a valid insurance policy on its staff and offices. What could be the motive of the arsonists? Peradventure they don’t want elections to hold again or they want to just waste the country’s scarce resources as INEC will have to replace all the lost items and renovate the burnt offices. I am of the considered view that INEC must tighten security around its offices nationwide especially Anambra where governorship election is expected to hold on November 6, 2021. Similar measures must be taken in Ekiti and Osun states where there will be governorship elections in 2022.

As things stand, sustained attack on the commission’s infrastructure will derail its electoral project plan. By June 28, 2021, INEC planned to commence nationwide Continuous Voter Registration. Should there be sustained attacks on its critical infrastructure, this may not hold as scheduled. The commission is also planning to register new political parties, in the process of concluding the conversion of voting points and voting points settlements into Polling Units in order to expand voter access and carry out massive voter education once the expected new Electoral Act 2021 is passed and signed into law in due course. I believe election is still the best way to effect leadership change and it is not compulsory for everybody to participate in the process. For those who do not want to get involved in the electoral process, they are free to do so but they should not obstruct or prevent others who believe in the process from exercising their rights and franchise.

INEC’s Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security needs to meet regularly to fine-tune strategies on how to secure the Commission from external attacks. It should also tighten up its cybersecurity architecture in order to prevent cyberattack on its database and ransom ware. There should be thorough probe of attacks on the commission’s infrastructure including those alleged to be due to ‘power surge”.  Federal and state authorities also need to meet and engage separatist groups who may wish to incite people against participation in the electoral process. I fully support the national dialogue proposed by the Southern Governors’ Forum provided it will create the pathway to lasting peace.