FRIDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2010 00:00 FROM JOHN-ABBA OGBODO, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR, AZIMAZI MOMOH JIMOH AND TERHEMBA DAKA, ABUJA NEWS - NATIONAL
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THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has requested to be vested with the power to control the security agencies during elections. In this way, it believes it would be in a better position to monitor the activities of law enforcement agents during the polls.
In a communiqué after its two-day national sensitization workshop on security challenges of election management in Nigeria which ended in Abuja, the commission also hinted that if given the approval it would deploy the armed forces in some difficult terrains in the country for the distribution of election materials.
Meanwhile, the Senate has undertaken the third reading of the second amendment to the Constitution and raised a six-man team for conference with the House of Representatives so that the bill could be transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly.
The six senators in the conference team are Victor Ndoma Egba (chairman), Umaru Dahiru, Ikechukwu Obiora, Shola Akinyede, Abubakar Sodangi and Idris Umar.
Also, the House of Representatives has constituted a six-member Conference Committee to work in synergy with the Senate to harmonise the amended constitution passed by both chambers of the National Assembly last Wednesday.
The members of the Committee announced by the Chamber yesterday at its plenary session presided by Speaker Dimeji Bankole are Aminu Tambuwal, John Kalipa, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, Ahmed Mustapha, Razak Adewusi and Sadiq Abubakar.
Addressing reporters in Abuja after yesterday’s plenary session, the Chairman, House Committee on Media, Eseme Eyibo said that the onus now lies with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free and fair election in 2011.
INEC’s National Commissioner responsible for the monitoring of political parties, Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari, who read the communiqué also stressed the need for inter-agency collaboration on security challenges at all levels as a matter of urgency to avoid incidences of conflicting statements as a result of duplication of efforts in the course of the conduct and monitoring of the election. According to the communiqué, “INEC as the electoral umpire must own and manage the activities of all security agencies working under it throughout the elections and needs to sensitize relevant government agencies to this imperative as a matter of priority,” she said.
The workshop, with the theme, “Security challenges of election management: Towards the 2011 Elections” drew about 50 participants from the academia, security services, civil society organizations, the media, private security firms and election management bodies from Lesotho, Kenya, Togo, Senegal and a member of parliament from Ghana.
Other recommendations made by the participants included the need for INEC to develop special Electoral Security Strategy & Plans (ESSP) which will delineate roles for different agencies based on their competence profile and capacity as well as allocating resources to match assigned responsibilities in a transparent and accountable manner.
INEC should design and deploy appropriate training and sensitization measures to guide security personnel and agencies to be deployed for electoral purposes
INEC should enlist the military for logistics support and tactical internal security awareness. INEC should determine and deploy appropriate technologies and systems to support security operations for election management.
In conclusion, the workshop noted that emphasis on good governance would minimize security threats experienced during elections. However, it said the best guarantee for security depended on how INEC conducts itself and manages the electoral process as an impartial and decisive umpire.

source: http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27466:inec-seeks-power-to-deploy-security-personnel-during-polls&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

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