The success of Nigeria’s 2023 Elections can break new ground in transparency and credibility in Africa if the Government delivers on its commitment to secure the electoral process.
This is the summation of an election security risk assessment conducted by the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience, OSPRE, which is also known as the National Early Warning Centre of Nigeria.
The Head, Communications and Public Relations of the oraganisation, Nike Babalola made this known in a statement.
According to the Director General of OSPRE, Mr. Chris Ngwodo, the report released last week entitled “Ballots and Battlegrounds: 2023 Election Security Risks as Nigeria Decides” is an assessment of threats to the credible conduct of this weekend’s polls based on crime reporting, incident mapping, historical research, publicly available information, open-source intelligence and ancillary data.
Ngwodo also noted that the report “is the product of a unique collaboration between state actors and civil society organizations who are united by the aim of improving the security and integrity of our electoral process and our democratic institutions.”
Use of BVAS
The report highlights the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as a development that could have a transformative impact on election management.
“The deployment of digital tools significantly narrows the spectrum of options available to bad actors who seek to subvert the electoral process,” part of the report read.
Ngwodo said such actors may resort to voter suppression through campaigns of intimidation and overt violence aimed at reducing voter turnout; attacks on INEC officials and attempts to steal, clone or destroy BVAS devices; vote buying; subornment of INEC staff and security agents with the aim of perverting electoral outcomes and attempts to hack the online transmission of results.
He said despite the likely use of these tactics by criminal elements, a high turnout of voters under conditions of adequate security as well as cybersecurity measures would guarantee the integrity of the process.
The report described the recent spate of attacks on INEC facilities and personnel as “unprecedented” and called on the Government to treat such attacks as “acts of subversion under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022.” It also recommended that “the expeditious investigation and prosecution of electoral crimes should be a top priority for law enforcement and security agencies.”
Ending Political Violence
The report concludes that ending the culture of political violence demands the promotion of strong disincentives the reduction of the premium placed on public office by modulating the rewards and privileges associated with power and stridently punishing electoral crimes.
The National Centre for the Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism was established in June 2022 with the signing of Executive Order 12 by President Muhammadu Buhari, pursuant to Article 58 of the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and Article 16 of the 1999 Protocol on the Mechanism relating to Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security.
The centre is mandated to address threats to human security and to build the preparedness and resilience of institutions and communities.
Shakirat Sadiq
