During a meeting with the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Major-General Monguno expressed concern about security during the forthcoming elections, the service chiefs and Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali said the Federal Government had put in place measures to ensure a peaceful election.
“We have worked in the last couple of months to put things in place. We know what we have done. We are the side of what we have on the ground. All of us who are managers of securing the electoral process know our responsibilities, He said.
“We are not in any way in doubt of what our mandate is but we need to let the entire country know that angels of bad news have been spreading all kinds of stories on social media and various platforms. If these things are intended to scare people, I want to dismiss such delusions.
“Everybody that is concerned in carrying out his legitimate undertaking, casting his vote would do so in a conducive atmosphere. It is very important that Nigerians are not pushed to the limit where they will abandon their Number One responsibility.”
The Nigerian Security Agency warned that Nigerians must not give up their civic responsibilities, saying the government will create a safe environment for voting.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has assured the government that it will not allow itself to be used in any way that would derail upcoming general elections, promising to do all within its mandate to assist the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, deliver a free and fair election.
The apex bank said it would do everything in its power to make available the cash that INEC needs for certain peculiar services.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, was hosted by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele yesterday in Abuja.
Yakubu had gone to the central bank on an emergency trip, seeking concessions regarding Nigeria's currency redesign policy. His request was for relief from limits placed on withdrawals of cash.
He said that some of the service providers require to be paid in cash. He cited experience, which he says has shown that emergency situations do arise on election day—and it may demand use of cash by commission officials.
Speaking at the meeting, Emefiele said: “The relationship between INEC and the Central Bank of Nigeria dates back to before I became the governor of the bank.
‘’Those relationships are those that border on trust and confidence and we do appreciate the fact that INEC and the Nigerian people have the trust and confidence in the capability of the Central Bank to play the role we have played for you and through you to the Nigerian people to ensure that our elections hold without hitches.
“Before now, we have been involved in the storage of INEC election materials and using our armoured bullion vans in transporting those election materials. We are happy that in the course of this relationship, we have not disappointed you.
‘’That is the reason you have called on us again this time. Aside from storage of election materials and transportation of these materials from CBN locations to specific or designated locations where you want them to be, I know just a few months ago, I visited your office and you raised the issue of how foreign exchange can be procured by you to import BVAS and other election materials and I gave you my word on that.
‘’I stand here to confirm that as at today, all dollars that are needed to import those items have been provided and those items have been imported. It is all part of our commitment.
“On the issue of paying logistics for people who are going to be transporting election materials to the ward and polling unit levels, the assurance I give to you is that, because we regard the INEC project as topmost and an urgent national project, it cannot fail and the Central Bank will not allow itself either to be used or the CBN to allow itself to be seen as an agent to frustrate a positive outcome of that project.
‘’So, I sit here to give you that commitment that whatever you need will be provided because you have been responsible in the past. It is not just about cash, we have done electronic payments before.
‘’If in this case, after making an electronic payment, you require some cash to pay transporters, the assurance I give to you is that we will make it available. So, it is nothing to worry about.
“I am happy that you have come here with your press corps for them to hear me and they have heard me and I will make sure that I will not fail. We will not allow ourselves in the Central Bank to be seen as an agent that frustrated the positive outcome of the election.”
