INSECURITY: ‘2023 Elections Will Cost Nigeria A Lot If Attack On INEC Continues’ – Lai Warns

On Tuesday President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the ongoing attacks on INEC offices, police stations, and prison in some part of the country, warning that those supporting insecurity and violence in the country will be treated in the language they understand.

Speaking on the attacks on INEC offices, former National Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Lai Olurode,  described the situation as unfortunate, said, “The isolated attacks on INEC offices should not be taken as an attack on democracy. The burning of INEC offices is not the burning of the electorate, it is not the burning of sensitive materials. What you need to do is to improvise but the most important thing that is needed in conducting a fair election is security. Once you secure a state, secure the election environment, you can conduct an election.”

Olurode also said, “The cost of doing an election is so enormous even
though in Nigeria we are not doing badly in terms of the cost of
election per voter. I understand that in other African countries, it is

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about N20 per voter but in Nigeria, it is about N7 per voter.

“The
last election in Nigeria cost about N189bn or N190bn and the register
had just about 84 million (registered voters). When you do your
arithmetic, it comes to about N7 or N8. So, Nigeria is one of the
cheapest countries in the world where elections are conducted.”

“Security
is paramount to do a good election and you know your country,
everywhere is burning, there is chaos, bandits here and there. In fact,
the cost of doing 2023 elections may be enormous, it may be more than
that. Looking at the map of Nigeria, you will see that violence has
multiplied; Niger, Benue, Imo, North-East and other parts of the
country.

“We pray all the insecurity in these places reduce
before the next election otherwise we will have to spend more on
security, securing INEC staff and offices, securing election materials
as they are moved from one place to the other and you may not get enough
ad hoc staff to want to risk their lives in crisis-prone areas. You may
have to look for people, secure and insure them.

“But there is no alternative, even if the country is burning, you need to conduct an election.” he added