The challenges of inadequate office accommodation the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been grappling with at its national headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, will soon be history as a new complex is to be constructed for the Commission by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, with approval from the Federal Executive Council, FEC.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, during the ground breaking ceremony performed by present Bola Tinubu said the present national headquarters commissioned in December 1997 was severely congested as the number of personal and Departments have increased.
Professor Mahmood said the facility was originally planned to cater for eight Commission members (a Chairman and seven full-time National Commissioners), ten Departments/Directorates and 500 staff have more than doubled.
“Today, there are 13 full-time Commission members (a Chairman and 12 National Commissioners), 22 Departments/Directorates and 1,048 staff. Consequently, every facility is overstretched from offices to meeting rooms for the Commission’s 15 standing Committees and other activities, including regular engagements with stakeholders.
‘General staff meetings always take place outside the Commission. In response, the Commission was compelled to rent two buildings in Wuse Zone II to ease the situation,” he said.
FCTA to the Rescue
The INEC Chairman noted that the Commission has made conserted efforts to alleviate the situation to no avail until the FCTA came to the reacue last year “today’s ground breaking event is the third time in the last 34 years that the FCTA, in the discharge of its responsibilities, is stepping in to either provide office accommodation or alleviate the Commission’s space constraint”.
He said other times the territory came to the commissions rescue include when the Commission relocated its headquarters from Lagos to Abuja in 1991, the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, provided it with offices in Garki to accommodate the national headquarters as well as the FCT office. When the facility became overstretched, the FCDA again built the present headquarters. The building in Garki now operates exclusively as INEC FCT Office.
The New Complex
“As the end user of the facility, our technical department submitted the concept of the proposed building which is what the FCT is currently executing. We made provision for offices, meeting rooms, conference rooms, a 1,000-seat auditorium and offices for some of our IT-based facilities such as the Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC)”.
“Beyond these facilities, the building plan has provision for a museum to serve as a repository for the physical and digital history of elections and electoral activities in Nigeria,” Mahmood stated.
He said the museum would afford citizens, particularly students that regularly visit the Commission on excursion, the opportunity to appreciate the evolution of Nigeria’s electoral history as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world.
The Main Headquarters
The main building opposite the present site shall remain the National Headquarters of the Commission. When completed, the new building will complement the main building.
“For me personally, this is a special occasion. After almost ten years of persistent effort, the construction of the INEC Annex Building is finally a reality,” he said.
Appreciation
Professor Mahmood Yakubu expressed appreciation President Tinubu, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Minister of the FCT, among others for making the Commission’s dream of a befitting office accommodation a reality.
It is hoped that the INEC headquarters Annex will be completed within the l8fe span of the Tinubu administration.
Confidence Okwuchi