The Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Amina Zakari has lauded the contribution of security agencies in ensuring the success of the 2015 general elections.

She gave the commendation when 24 participants of the National Security Training Seminar of the Defence Intelligence College (DIC) paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters on Tuesday, September 1.

Mrs Zakari explained that the Commission had set up a committee on security – Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES)- to strategise ways of achieving a successful poll during the 2015 general elections, maintaining that the contribution of this committee to deepening democracy cannot be overemphasized.

She, however, noted that a major threat to electoral security is the “lack of internal democracy among political parties in Nigeria”, decrying the numerous court cases that usually trail party primaries as a result of substitution of candidates, thereby “heating up the polity”.

She further identified “the deployment of money politics” as another challenge, explaining that the Commission had begun putting measures in place to effectively track campaign funding.

The Acting INEC Chairman also commended security agencies for their support in the drive for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) voting during the 2015 general elections.

Earlier, the Coordinator, National Security Training Seminar, Defence Intelligence College (DIC), Air Commodore Peter Charles Ekeh (Rtd) accompanied by 19 participants and 5 staff of DIC explained that their visit was to expand their knowledge and also for innovative planning in achieving National Security.

“We have come to learn about how INEC operates and to draw from your wealth of experience from the past elections”, he said.