Defend Your Votes Against Ballot Box Snatchers – INEC Urges Voters

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, has urged Nigerians to protect their votes against ballot-snatching thugs during elections.

Speaking at a campus outreach organised by the electoral body in conjunction with the European Centre for Electoral Support in Lagos, Mr Yakubu said active citizen participation is the solution to security challenges during election.

“Nobody will take a gun where they know they will be challenged. But when people abandon polling units, it becomes easier for merchants of violence to disrupt the process,” Mr Yakubu said.

“We also have a system of merging with security agencies and although we discourage armed security men in the polling units, there are armed men outside the polling units to also beef up security in the polling units.”