File Photo: some internally displaced people in Adamawa state, running away from Boko Haram

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said it had set up a Task Force on how to ensure that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country voted in the 2015 general elections.

Mr Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to the commission’s chairman said the task force, will examinine the legal, political, security and administrative challenges in achieving IDPs’ voting during the election.

According to a statement issued by Idowu, the task force would “evaluate the standards and recommendations emerging from conferences and workshops by international and local agencies on IDP voting, and determine their applicability to Nigeria for the 2015 election.’’

It added that the task force would also review the experiences of other jurisdictions in dealing with the challenges of IDP voting.

The group would also evaluate the adequacy of existing electoral legal framework for resolving the challenges of IDP voting in the elections, and determine what the commission could do to ensure that IDPs were not disenfranchised.

The task force was further mandated “to determine the scope of IDP participation that is practicable in the 2015 general election, and to submit a comprehensive report, which should embody specific recommendations on IDP participation in the election.’’

Internally Displaced Women in a hall: waiting for food

INEC said that the task force had seven working days, from Dec. 22, to submit its report.

“The task force, whose constitution has been approved by the Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, has a National Commissioner, Mrs Thelma Iremiren, as chairperson along with nine other members,’’ it said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the nine other members are the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, Mr Kassim Gaidam, Prof. Tukur Sa’ad and Malam Sadiq Musa, respectively.

Others are INEC’s Director, Electoral Operations, Mr Kayode Oladimeji; Ag. Director, Legal Services, Mr Ibrahim Bawa; Director, Voter Registry, Mr Emmanuel Akem; Chief Technical Adviser and Special Assistant to INEC Chairman, Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu.

Prof. Mohammed Kuna is also a member while Mr Okechukwu Ndeche, Director of Planning and Monitoring in INEC, will serve as secretary to the task force.