Electoral Commission Inaugurates Inter-Security Agencies

Electoral Commission Inaugurates Inter-Security Agencies

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Nigeria , INEC, has inaugurated an Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security for the scheduled 2011 election.

Chairman of the commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, described inter agency cooperation as critical to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in 2011 and beyond.

The committee comprises representatives of the National Security Adviser, Nigerian Air Force, the Navy, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).

Recurring challenge

Jega said that election insecurity had been a recurrent challenge to election management bodies in Nigeria .

He said that the committee would make local perspectives of security the nucleus of its planning and implementation of election security strategies.  

Jega said that the challenges facing states, local government areas and specific communities during elections demanded adequate knowledge and synergies among security agencies.

He said that the collaborative approach would enable each state to develop an election security plan to be shared and approved by the national body.

''In essence, rather than a single top down plan often developed in Abuja, the present approach intends to give more voice to security officials ‘on the ground' to provide adequate local content and context to election security,' ' Jega said.

NAN/Margaret/Qasim/Yinka