Ahead of the February general election, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has organised a 2-day capacity building workshop for all State Commandants and the Corps’ strategic managers to ensure a hitch-free 2023 general election.
The two-day training organised in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, tagged, “Preparing for the 2023 General Elections: NSCDC Capacity Building Training,” was held in Abuja.
Dr Ahmed Audi, NSCDC Commandant General said that the strategic management workshop was aimed at developing common policy guidelines that can be used in deepening the capacity of personnel.
He maintained that the Corps would ensure that voters, domestic observers, election sensitive materials and electoral officers’ safety are well coordinated.
The CG noted that plans are underway to release a revised standard operational guideline on election duties and other salient election security rules for personnel’ to ensure a secured national electoral process.
Dr Audi charged all personnel to actively protect all offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as any State Commandant with reports of attack on any INEC facility in their state of operation would face sanctions.
He said by the new Electoral Act, NSCDC personnel could arrest electoral offenders and conduct thorough investigations but can not prosecute the suspects.
According to him, security threats in the country had been curtailed due to proactive measures taken by security agencies, hence the need to continue the proactiveness before, during and after the elections.
Audi said that although ensuring security in the south-Eastern part of Nigeria had been a peculiar problem, security agencies had developed certain strategies that can not be disclosed to the public.
The Resident Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Nigeria, Marija Peran, commended the NSCDC for its commitment to advance their skills, deliver quality services constantly and for having a good understanding of the importance of inter-agency collaboration for the greater good of Nigeria.
The KAS Country Representative said there was need to identify security lapses to enable personnel of security agencies to strengthen their skills and operations for good electoral conduct, investigation, arrest and prosecution of offenders.”
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung is an organisation promoting democracy, good governance and rule of law that supports security sector reforms.
PR Nkiru Njemanze,Edited by Grace Namiji