Arsonists want to prevent the holding of elections in 2023 in Ebonyi State, Security Consultant to the Government, Chief Stanley Emegha, has said.
says it will fortify security at all Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices, among other facilities, across the state.
Emegha who revealed this on Tuesday vowed that Elections would hold in Ebonyi as scheduled and the people would protect their votes.
“Anyone who destroys public facilities again in the state will meet his waterloo as the government would act decisively,” he said.
Emegha was speaking on efforts to forestall the recent arson on the INEC office in Izzi Local Government Area, described the incident as unfortunate and thanked God that no life was lost in the incident.
“The problem is that when we deploy the Ebubeagu security outfit to such facilities, some people would start insinuating that they want to hijack electoral materials.
“We would, however, not succumb to such cheap blackmail but ensure that such facilities are adequately protected across the state.
“We would, in collaboration with other security agencies in the state, deploy joint security outfits at all INEC offices among other public facilities across the state,” he said.
He noted that the arsonists thought that Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and other sensitive materials were at the affected INEC office but fortunately, they were not.
“Those causing these problems do not want elections to hold in Ebonyi as in other states but their plans have failed.”
