Elections may not be held until we recover.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, has warned that if unprovoked assaults on INEC offices and infrastructure continue, the 2023 general elections might be in jeopardy.

Yakubu said, “The commission can replace some damaged necessities, but there is a limit to which the assaults may stretch them,” at the beginning of an investigation session of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee looking into the attacks on Friday in Abuja.

“We are resolute and we will keep working on our preparations for the general elections in 2023,” Yakubu said. So far, all of the facilities have either been rebuilt or substituted, and materials have been changed. The Commission may find it more difficult to recuperate in time for the election, however, if such assaults continue to occur at the current rate.

Yes, we can recover if the assaults are stopped, but it will be extremely challenging for the commission to recover if the attacks continue. Since coordinated efforts to halt these attacks have become necessary, we expect that this public hearing will help achieve the desired result.

“The assaults have a significant impact on the general election planning. First, it would take time to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure, particularly the offices.

“They cannot be purchased off the shelf like other objects of procurement. Therefore, a different layout must be devised. Therefore, we would need to make alternate arrangements by renting in some of the states in addition to these harmful assaults and other issues that have developed as a consequence of fire and floods.

“We can discover facilities to rent in certain locations. We may not be able to locate rental facilities in some of the distant places. Consequently, we need to find replacements to destroyed infrastructure.