Concerned about the growing insecurity in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has initiated strategies that would assist it in the deployment of personnel and airlifting of election materials for voter registration in crisis ridden areas across the federation.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, commenced visits to Armed Services with a visit to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, where he solicited support of the service, especially in delivery of election materials, in order to serve Nigerians more efficiently on election day.
He noted that on twenty-fifth February and eleventh March 2023, the Commission will deploy personnel and materials to about one hundred and ninety thousand voting and collation centers nationwide for the one thousand, four hundred and ninety-one executive and legislative offices across Nigeria.
Professor Yakubu also noted that the activities must take place simultaneously, stretching over nine hundred and twenty-three million, seven hundred and sixty-eight kilometers within six voting hours and involving a projected population of ninety million voters.
The INEC Chairman stressed that in keeping with the long tradition of collaboration with the Commission, the Air Force served on the Electoral Logistics Committee ahead of the 2019 general elections, and had served beyond logistics support, as the Air Force had also deployed its assets to provide security during off-cycle elections, especially in areas of difficult terrain.
While apricating the neutrality and professionalism of the Air Force, Professor Yakubu noted that their collaboration has been of tremendous benefit to the electoral process and the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria, adding that in handling such huge national assignment, the Commission cannot do it alone.
He emphasised that the law empowers the Commission to seek the support of the security agencies in general, and the Armed Forces in particular, in delivering materials for election and the protection of election officials.
In his response, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Amao, commended INEC under Professor Yakubu for strengthening and advancing electoral processes, and promised that Nigerian Armed Forces would give INEC the necessary support and coordination in airlifting all election materials and logistics, including staff in the election to any part of the country, especially remote areas of any State to ensure a hitch free, inclusive, fair and credible exercise.
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