Moses Ofodeme
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mahmood Yakubu, has profoundly expressed its appreciation to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for steadily addressing accommodation need of the Agency since its relocation from Lagos.
Yakubu, while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new annex office in Abuja, states that for a long time, the Commission has been grappling with inadequate office accommodation.
He notes that its present national headquarters is severely congested. Commissioned in December 1997, it was originally planned to cater for eight Commission members (a Chairman and seven full-time National Commissioners), ten Departments/Directorates and 500 staff. Since then, the activities of the Commission have become more extensive and the staff strength at the headquarters has more than doubled.
However, today there are 13 full-time Commission members (a Chairman and 12 National Commissioners), 22 Departments/Directorates and 1,048 staff. Consequently, every facility is overstretched from offices to meeting rooms for the Commission’s 15 standing Committees and other activities, including regular engagements with stakeholders. General staff meetings always take place outside the Commission.
In response, the Commission was compelled to rent two buildings in Wuse Zone II to ease the situation.
Yakubu continued, “Over the last ten years, we made every effort to alleviate the situation until sometime last year when the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory came to the rescue. I wish to make it clear that this is not the first time that the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is constructing an office for the Electoral Commission.”
He recalled that when the Commission relocated its headquarters from Lagos to Abuja in 1991, it was the FCDA that provided it with offices in Garki to accommodate the national headquarters as well as the FCT office and that when the facility became overstretched, the FCDA again built its present headquarters.
The building in Garki now operates exclusively as its FCT Office.
“In fact, today’s ground breaking event is the third time in the last 34 years that the FCDA, in the discharge of its responsibilities, is stepping in to either provide office accommodation or alleviate the Commission’s space constraint.” said the Chairman.
As the end user of the facility, he said the Commission’s technical department submitted the concept of the proposed building which is what the FCT is currently executing.
“We made provision for offices, meeting rooms, conference rooms, a 1,000-seat auditorium and offices for some of our IT-based facilities such as the Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC). Beyond these facilities, the building plan has provision for a museum to serve as a repository for the physical and digital history of elections and electoral activities in Nigeria. This will afford citizens, particularly students that regularly visit the Commission on excursion, the opportunity to appreciate the evolution of our electoral history as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world.” he said.
Meanwhile, he said themain building opposite the present site shall remain the National Headquarters of the Commission and when completed, the new building will complement the main building.
“For me personally, this is a special occasion. After almost ten years of persistent effort, the construction of the INEC Annex Building is finally a reality.
“At this point, all that remains for me, on behalf of the Commissioners and staff of the Commission, is to thank Your Excellency Mr. President for making it happen and for your personal presence. I would also like to appreciate the presence of the Senate President, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives. We are similarly appreciative of the Honourable Minister of the FCT for his diligent pursuit of the project as well as the leadership of the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in the National Assembly, leaders of political parties and all stakeholders for their presence and support.”