The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission stunned his audience on Friday when he disclosed that 50 facilities of the Commission in 15 states have been attacked in the last four years, that is, between 2019 and 2022.

Professor Yakubu was addressing the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee investigating attacks on INEC facilities on Friday where he disclosed that there have been eight of such attacks this year alone. The highest number of attacks was in 2020 when 22 of the Commission’s facilities were attacked. Similarly, there were 8 attacks in 2019 and 12 in 2021.

These are attacks as a result of election-related violence, protests unrelated to elections, and activities of thugs and unknown gunmen. The list does not include damages to facilities as a result of fire accidents, natural disasters such as flooding or rain/wind storms, the snatching/destruction of electoral materials during election, burglary and attacks on election duty officials.

Consequently, he wants the security agencies to designate INEC facilities across the country as high priority to be offered highest form of protection.

Convinced that these attacks persist because offenders are hardly punished, the INEC boss called on the National Assembly to expedite action on establishing Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal to handle attackers and other electoral offenders.

He assured the lawmakers that the attacks so far will not pose any threat to the 2023 election as it will go on as scheduled with the Commission being able to replace damaged Permanent Voters Cards arising from the attacks. However, the same guarantee cannot be given for any future attacks.

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, has always pleaded with Nigerians to see INEC’s facilities across the states as ‘national assets.’ “However, there are a few areas of concern, the main one being the prevailing insecurity in the country. He listed all the places where there have been attacks and repeated attacks across the country.

Yakubu said: “We are determined and we will continue with our preparations for the 2023 general elections. So far, all the facilities would be rebuilt or alternatives found and materials would be replaced. However, should such attacks continue at the pace at which they are happening at the moment, the Commission may find it increasingly difficult to recover in time for the election.”

“If it is about stopping the attacks, yes we can recover, but if the attacks continue, it would be very difficult for the commission to recover. That is why concerted efforts to stop these attacks have become imperative and we hope this public hearing would contribute to the required outcome.

“The attacks have far-reaching implications on preparation for the general elections. First, the facilities that are destroyed, especially offices, would take time to rebuild. They are not like items of procurement that you can procure off the shelf. So, an alternative arrangement has to be made. So, in some of the states, in addition to these malicious attacks, and other matters that have arisen as a result of fire and flooding, we would have to make alternative arrangements by renting.

“In some places, we can find facilities to rent. In some of the remote areas, we may not find facilities to rent. So, we have to look for alternatives to damaged facilities.

“Secondly several materials lost would have to be replaced. In the recent attacks, some of the PVCs, for instance, were lost. But for the PVCs, we have instructed our state offices to send the Voter Identification Numbers of the PVCs lost so we can reprint them. We can, from our database, quickly regenerate and reprint the cards so that citizens are not disenfranchised.

“The commission and security agencies must also continue to provide safety around the facilities and this, as I said earlier, may be very challenging, because the security agencies are also protecting all of us and other national assets.”

“Now, we have to rebuild the facilities and our funds are overstretched by a number of factors. We cannot continue to replace and rebuild. And what is even more worrisome for us is the attack in Izzi LGA of Ebonyi State. The building was first attacked on 18th may 2012.

“We found the resources in our election project plan budget to rebuild the office and we did so. We rebuilt the office and our staff moved in on Friday. That weekend on Sunday, the office was burnt down again and there are five such offices nationwide where in spite of our best efforts, the facility was attacked not only once but twice. We have five offices in which even after rebuilding or trying to rebuild, the offices were attacked again.

“While we want to reassure Nigerians that we will recover from these attacks, and the election will proceed as scheduled, we would like to appeal to all citizens to see the Commission’s facilities as national asset. It is our collective responsibility to join hands in protecting them. The attacks must stop and the perpetrators swiftly apprehended and prosecuted.”