Despite Attacks On Its Facilities, 791 Lawsuits, INEC Restates Readiness For Elections

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has, once again, reaffirmed the readiness of the commission to conduct the highly anticipated general elections despite the attacks on its facilities and 791 court cases.

Yakubu gave this assurance on Tuesday when he delivered a speech on the topic “Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: Preparations and Priorities for Electoral Integrity and Inclusion,” at Chatham House, London.

He noted that at least 50 facilities of the commission had been attacked in four years, stressing that implications of the attacks were that the commission would need to continue to rebuild the burnt facilities and replace materials.

He assured that INEC, in collaboration with security agencies, had increased security presence in some of the attack-prone locations.

The election umpire is now faced with at least 791 court cases, a geometric rise from the 600 cases it was confronted with as of November last year.

Although, the INEC is only joined in the suits as a “nominal party” it nonetheless declared that it would only obey “clear” orders of courts in the light of conflicting orders by courts of coordinate jurisdiction.

“In spite of the development, the commission has expressed satisfaction with its preparations so far, saying it is determined to deliver a free, fair, credible and inclusive election to Nigerians.

“We have promised Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that the 2023 general election will be free, fair, credible and inclusive and we have left no stone unturned in preparing for it, despite several challenges.

“But all elections, especially those involving the type of extensive national deployment like we do in Nigeria, will naturally come with challenges. We have worked closely with stakeholders and development partners to confront these challenges and we are satisfied with our preparations so far.

“Our Commission does not take the pledge that we have repeatedly made to Nigerians lightly. We are leaving no stone unturned in our preparations. Our commitment remains only to Nigerians and not to any political party or candidate. That is what the law requires of us. We cherish the institutional independence and integrity of the Commission.

“With the enthusiasm of Nigerians, the goodwill of stakeholders and partners, and the commitment of the Commission, we believe that the 2023 general election will be among the best conducted in Nigeria.”

Speaking on the 791 court cases, Yakubu said: “While the Commission has the core responsibility to conduct free, fair and credible elections based on the law, the Judiciary is responsible for the interpretation of the law and adjudication of electoral disputes.

“In the discharge of our responsibilities, few public institutions in Nigeria are subjected to more litigation than INEC. In the 2019 general election, the Commission was involved in 1,689 cases, made up of 852 pre-election, 807 post-election and 30 electoral offences cases. The Commission is committed to the rule of law without which democracy cannot thrive.

“Towards the 2023 general election, the Commission has been joined in 791 Court cases as at Friday 6th January 2023 involving intra-party elections and nomination of candidates by political parties. These are not cases involving elections conducted by the Commission or litigation initiated by it, but purely intra-party matters involving candidates and their political parties mainly due to the absence of internal democracy within parties. In fact, the Commission is only a nominal party in these cases nevertheless has to be represented by lawyers in court proceedings.

“The Commission will continue to obey clear orders of Courts because of the plethora of conflicting judgments from Courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same subject matter, particularly those involving the leadership of political parties or the nomination of candidates for elections”, said Yakubu.

According to him, the perennial insecurity in many African countries remains a source of concern to election managers.

He lamented that in the North-East, there is the longstanding Boko Haram insurgency, while in both the North West and the North Central, banditry, terrorism and the herder-farmer conflicts remain major challenges.

“In the South-South, the threat of renewed insurgency by groups demanding more share of petroleum revenue to the Niger-Delta continues to simmer. In the South West, although an earlier surge by a group demanding independence for the region has considerably dissipated, recent violent attacks on places of worship, rise in the activities of violent cults and kidnapping groups, as well as a history of violence involving groups seeking to control markets and motor parks remain strong.

“In the South-East, the lingering agitation for separatism championed by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, poses a major security threat. Not ony have violent attacks by a number of armed groups increased, the long-standing weekly lock-down of the five States in that geopolitical zone, continues to disrupt social and economic activities.

“There is no doubt that violence and threat of violence are major challenges to credible election in 2023. Violence makes deployment for elections difficult, particularly where some of the attacks are targeted at the electoral process and participants.

“However, the Commission has been working with security agencies and other stakeholders to establish mechanisms to understand, track and mitigate security challenges. We are working collaboratively in the context of ICCES, and we also have the Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool, EVMAT, which is a research and diagnostic tool for predicting and mitigating election violence prior to elections. In addition, there is the Election Risk Management Tool, ERM, which tracks and reports general risks to elections.

“In all, we feel assured by the actions we have taken and our collaboration with the security agencies. The 2023 general election will proceed as planned. There is no plan to postpone the election”, he added.

The INEC boss explained that the over two million voters who are internally displaced would be allowed to participate in the polls insofar as they are in the Internally Displaced Persons IDPs Camps and not in private homes where they cannot be tracked.