Electoral Hub seeks better election security in Nigeria

Stakeholders have met in Abuja to dissect the 2023 General elections, its security challenges, how it affected the poll and how the country could be steered towards the conduct of elections that are free from security challenges.

The workshop organized by the Electoral Hub on Tuesday, November 7, to present three project of the Hub was tagged, ‘Policy Roundtable on Citizen’s Rights and Impact of Insecurity on the 2023 General Election.

This project was initiated with funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Africa.

Welcoming participant to the event, the Director of the Electoral Hub, Princess Hamman-Obels, said, “This project was initiated with funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Africa, to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the electoral process on election security by the production of three well-researched policy and briefing papers on the impact of insecurity on elections.

“The aim is to safeguard both the institutional integrity of the EMB and the integrity of the electoral process as well as ensure that our elections are peaceful, and credible.”

According to Princes Hamman-Obels, the project seeks to provide enhanced knowledge and understanding of the security issues and their multidimensional implications on elections.

She added, ‘’Additionally, we endeavour to map security challenges and how they affected the preparations of INEC for the 2023 elections. A detailed understanding of these helps election duty-bearers like INEC to draw up tailored strategies that acknowledge the unique needs of the country. The studies, therefore, culminated in drawing up actionable recommendations for security and safety during elections. We recognize that policy recommendations grounded in sound research and collective expertise are the linchpin of achieving genuine progress.

“As part of the project, The Electoral Hub engaged three consultants: Professor L. Adele Jinadu, Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, and Dr. Plangsat Bitrus Dayil, who deployed their wealth of experience and knowledge to provide a thorough treatment of aspects of insecurity impacts on elections in Nigeria. Specifically, Professor Jinadu provides an assessment of the Impact of Insecurity on INEC’s Preparedness for the 2023 General Election. Professor Ibeanu examines and discusses the Threat of Electoral Violence During and After the 2023 General Election, and Dr. Plangsat, on her part, provides insight on the Gender and Inclusion Dimension of the Impact of Insecurity on the 2023 General Elections. From the titles of the papers, we can discern that the project has undertaken a comprehensive examination of security dynamics in pre-election, Election Day, and post-election periods.”

She  assed, “ It is my fervent hope that findings and recommendations from the research outputs would contribute towards enriching our collective knowledge and promoting the integrity as well as accountability of our electoral processes.

“Ultimately, I am optimistic that this event will lead to enhancements in election security in Nigeria and steer the country towards the conduct of elections that are free from security challenges.

The roundtable was chaired by Professor Attahiru Jega, a former INEC Chairman.