Election: INEC to deploy security personnel days before election time

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has called for early deployment of security personnel ahead of any election.

Yakubu made the call during interaction with civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media on the Bayelsa Supplementary Poll in Abuja on Friday.

He said this was necessary in order to assess the environment where election would be conducted.

“We are going to discuss with security agencies not to deploy on the eve of election but a day or two to the election, so that the personnel will have a feel of the environment,” he said.

Yakubu said special preference would be given to the Nigeria police to be deployed for the Bayelsa election on January 9.

He said the decision on deployment of army for the election should be left for the Inspector-General of Police, who is the Co-Chairman on Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the chairman of INEC is also a co-chairman of ICCES.

Yakubu stressed the need for INEC to mop-up or review voter register, adding that the last time it was done was in 2010.

He said there was need to do so because some of the registered voters might have died while others might have relocated.

Yakubu pledged that INEC would continue to improve on the voter registration adding that it was central to the country’s electoral process.

He said that arrangement was on going to carry out Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), in states were elections would be conducted in 2016.

“We are also working to ensure the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards to voters yet to collect theirs.”

He said that “INEC has Edo and Ondo state governorship elections to conduct in 2016.

“Thereafter, we have Anambra, Ekiti and Osun and so many National Assembly elections arising from judicial processes and death of the candidates and political appointees, among others.”