INEC attributes high cost of conducting elections to insecurity

The National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the high cost of conducting elections to prevailing insecurity in most parts of the country and called for peaceful coexistence amongst Nigerians.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Benue, Enugu and Anambra states, Mr Festus Okoye, said this on Saturday in Makurdi during an interaction with leaders of political parties, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Media.

He acknowledged that though such huge deployment of security personnel during elections helped in stabilising the electoral process, it was also capital intensive.

Okoye, a civil society activist, called on the stakeholders to mobilise the electorate against electoral violence and general insecurity in the country.

He said the commission was working hard to ensure Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in various camps are not disenfranchised.

“The conditions of the IDPs are horrible, no Nigerian deserve to live in a camp. I call on all including the media to mobilise the people against insurgency. No matter how bad their conditions are, we will make sure they vote during the elections.

“We are working with State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) to capture their details. All registered IDPs will vote,” he assured.

He said no Nigerian that has attained voting age that possessed a valid voter card would be denied the right to exercise their franchise.

“It is only through voting that they can take ownership of the electoral process by voting those they want.”

He called on the electorate to check their names in the ongoing display of voters register to avoid omissions and spelling errors.

He also warned political parties to avoid wrong substitution of candidates’ names, saying only list of candidates duly signed by party chairmen and secretaries will be accepted by the commission.

Okoye appealed to parties to respect their internal democratic principles to avoid litigations after party primaries and assured that efforts had been intensified to ensure the credibility of the polls.