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Strengthening security during elections through private guards
Security is fundamental to virtually all human activities, electoral processes inclusive. Any nation considering development must conceive and implement robust security arrangements, experts say.
A vibrant security structure is required to not only protect but also nurture nascent democracies such as Nigeria’s.
It is the duty of the state to secure its citizens and institutions. It created the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to augment the efforts of the Police.
However, government’s security agencies alone cannot do the job; somebody has to fill the gap.
During the just-concluded general election, security agencies did their best to protect politicians, INEC personnel, electoral materials, electorate, rallies and conventions.
However, the violence and skirmishes experienced in some parts of the country during the just-concluded general election underscores the need to bolster the nation’s security system
Some of the security challenges witnessed during the elections include violent demonstrations, theft of electoral supplies, targeted attacks on leaders and voters, among others.
Some observers attribute the violence to inadequate public security manpower deployed to the polling units.
Some political analyst say INEC should be held responsible for the violence in line with Section 27 (3) of Electoral Act 2022 Section 27 (3).
That section stipulates that INEC shall be responsible for requesting for the deployment of relevant security personnel necessary for elections or registrations of voters and shall assign them in a manner determined by the commission in consultation with the relevant security agencies.
They argue that the law did not set particular boundaries on the relevant security personnel except for the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The already enormous task of securing Nigeria with its vast land mass and huge population is usually compounded during election periods where special arrangements have to be made to meet security demands.
To overcome this challenge, Mr Okereke Chinwike, Chief Executive Officer, African Law Foundation (AFRILAW) said it was important to recognise the complementary roles of the private security providers in providing security during elections.
He said that private security companies should be harnessed by the Federal Government in ensuring adequate election security during future elections.
According to him, there is need for an increased cooperation between INEC, the private security operators as well as election policy makers to ensure that their resources are utilized in the future.
“The private security guards can play a critical role in monitoring and reporting incidences; provide security for election stakeholders’ office premises, politicians, political parties’ events, INEC and other support services that public security agencies carry out.
“Though they have been carrying out some of these services unofficially, right now, we want the policymakers to make it official so that they can complement the public security agencies.
“They should also be given a capacity building training so that they can offer quality and professional services in further elections.
“Some of the roles of private security in election include provision of security in government installations, political party premises and homes of political actors.
“They also complement formal security in crowd control during rallies and other political meetings,” he said.
Deputy Commandant, NSCDC,Mr Oyesanya Sanya, agrees that private security providers should be given the opportunity to complement the services the public security agencies during elections
“Private security came into being because of the gap in what United Nations recommended as the standard ratio for policing the citizens, which is one police officer to every 450 citizen.
“Government-funded security agencies cannot do all; these are the gaps the private security guards are filling, which they have been doing in everyday security.
“Using them for election security will assist us in having a well secured election process,” he said.
Coordinator, Access Africa for Right and Development Initiative,Dr David Vareba said deliberate efforts should be made by all critical election stakeholders to ensure adequate use of private security guards during election.
Vareba, who served as an election observer in Rivers during the 2023 general election, also said that private security guards were not adequately involved in the electoral process.
He urged adequate compensation measures for private security guards deployed to high risk and volatile areas for election-related duties.
Similarly, Vice-President, Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN), Clement Anala, said there is need for private security guards to be incorporated into the mainstream security architecture for better synergy among security personnel in the country be they private or public.
“We have a whole lot of private security guards within the scope of the 36 states.
“What we need is capacity building for our personnel and to increase coordination with relevant security stakeholders, including the government, civil society and media to ensure our full participation in future elections,” he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said that the tenure of the incumbent chairmen and councillors of the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will expire in June 2026.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the clarification in Abuja at a meeting of the commission with the leaders of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) FCT chapter, led by the council’s National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle.
The delegation was at INEC with the sole purpose of seeking the commission’s clarification on the tenure of the current officers of the six area councils as well as the 62 councillors in the FCT.
He said that based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), the current elected executives of FCT area councils have a four-year tenure.
Yakubu said that INEC had earlier received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum regarding the tenure of FCT area councils and demands for the Commission to release timetable for the elections.
He said that the inquiries were based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which was the subsisting law at the time the area council elections were held on Feb. 12 2022.
“The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides for a three-year tenure for Chairmen and Councillors which, in their opinion, expires 2025.
“However, Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.
“In particular, in the exercise of its powers as the law-making body for the FCT, the National Assembly extended the tenure of the Area Councils from three to four years, thereby aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide.
“This is one of the important provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. The Act came into force on Friday Feb. 25 2022, two weeks after the last Area Council elections in the FCT.
“By the time the elected Chairmen and Councillors were sworn-in four months later on June 14, 2022, they took their oath of allegiance and oath of office on the basis of the new electoral Act (i.e. the Electoral Act 2022) which provides for a four-year tenure.
“Consequently, their tenure therefore expires in June 2026,’’ Yakubu said.
The INEC chairman said tenure was not defined by the date of election but the date of the oath of office for executive elections or the date of inauguration for legislative houses.
Yakubu said that an officer-elect (president/vice, governor, senator, house member, chairman or councillor) cannot exercise the powers of office and draw from the remunerations attached to it until such a person is sworn-in or the legislative house is inaugurated.
“The Constitution empowers INEC to hold elections not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the end of tenure of incumbent officers.
“In the case of the FCT, Section 108(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 under which the current Chairmen and Councillors were sworn-in on 14th June 2022 is clear and therefore unambiguous:
“(1) An Area Council shall stand dissolved at the expiration of 4 years commencing from the date –
(a) When the Chairman took the oath of office; or (b) when the legislative arm of the Council was inaugurated whichever is earlier”.
Yakubu added that there were several judicial authorities; including the judgement of the Supreme Court that tenure begins from the date of oath of office and not the date of election.
“The Law Firms that have written INEC on behalf of their clients ought to have drawn their attention to both the law and judicial pronouncements on the matter.
“You may also wish to note that when the Electoral Act 2022 was signed into law two weeks after the commission conducted the last area council elections in the FCT, the incumbent holders (chairmen and councillors) challenged us;
“That we conducted the election too early, claiming that the new Electoral Act extended their tenure from three to four years.
“We reminded them that they took their oath of office under the old law before the coming into force of the new Electoral Act. Therefore, their tenure will expire in June 2022,’’ Yakubu said.
He reassured IPAC that INEC was aware of its responsibilities under the law, hence would release the timetable and schedule of activities for the election at appropriate time.
He said that the FCT area council election conducted by INEC remained a model for local government elections in the country.
He pledged that INEC would continue to uphold the sanctity of tenure and improve the credibility of those elections.
Yakubu appealed to all persons with ambition to contest for the positions of chairmen and councillors in the FCT to be guided by the provisions of the law and judicial pronouncements on the issue of tenure.
He also appealed to political parties to enlighten their members accordingly
Speaking earlier, Dantalle they were at INEC for the commission to clarify the tenure of the FCT area council.
“ There have been issues about if they are meant to spend three or four years in office.
“I recall that in the previous meeting, the national leadership of political parties have with the commission, this issue has been clarified.
“But I feel it will be necessary to invite IPAC general assembly of the FCT to come with me to the commission for first-hand information about the status of the tenor of the elected officers in FCT,’’ Dantalle said.
The National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) per adult a day stood at N1,041 in May 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.
The NBS revealed this in its CoHD report for May 2024 released on Friday in Abuja.
The bureau said that the CoHD in May increased by one per cent compared to the N1,035 recorded in April.
The NBS said the CoHD was the least expensive combination of locally available items that met globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines.
It said it was used as a measure of physical and economic access to healthy diets.
“This is a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation.”
The bureau said that to compute the CoHD indicator, the following data on Retail Food Prices, Food Composition Data, and Healthy Diet Standard were required.
The NBS also said that in May, the average CoHD was highest in the South-West at N1,189 per adult per day, followed by the South-East at N1,190 per day.
It said the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-West at N919 per adult per day.
The NBS further said that at the state level Ebonyi, Abia and Anambra recorded the highest CoHD at N1,225, N1,215, and N1,205, respectively.
The bureau said Kano recorded the lowest CoHD at N898, followed by Jigawa at N899, and Yobe and Katsina at N906.
The NBS said CoHD had steadily increased since the first CoHD report by the bureau in October 2023.
“The CoHD in May 2024 is 32 per cent higher than what was recorded in December 2023 at N786 and one per cent higher than CoHD in April 2024, which was N1,035.
“The food groups that have driven the increases in CoHD the most are starchy staples, legumes, nuts and seeds, and animal source foods.
“On the other hand, vegetables and fruits recorded the lowest increase in price on a month-on-month basis.”
The report added that animal-source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in May, accounting for 36 per cent of the total CoHD to provide 13 per cent of the total calories.
It noted that fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie.
“They accounted for 11 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively, of the total CoHD while providing only seven per cent and five per cent of total calories in the Healthy Diet Basket.
“Legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at seven per cent of the total cost.’’
The report also says that in recent months, the CoHD had risen faster than general inflation and food inflation.
“However, the CoHD and the food Consumer Price Index (CPI) are not directly comparable.
“The CoHD includes fewer items and is measured in Naira per day, while the food CPI is a weighted index.”
The NBS said the policy implications of these results would foster collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders, such as policymakers, researchers and civil society actors that focused on food security.
“These stakeholders will devise strategies that tackle access, availability, and affordability of healthy diet effectively.
“Also future research incorporating income can also be used to determine the proportion and number of the population that are unable to afford a healthy diet,” the report said.
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