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Unfazed By Attacks, INEC Vows To Advance With 2023 General Election
INEC says there is no plan to postpone the 2023 elections amid attacks on its facilities.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the postponement of the general election on account of logistics challenges.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Recall that INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Friday, said the conduct of the 2023 elections may be affected if the attacks on the commission’s offices persist.
The electoral commission has recently suffered attacks on its facilities in Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Imo, and Enugu.
“Should such attacks continue at the pace at which they are happening at the moment, the commission may find it increasingly difficult to recover in good time for the election,” Yakubu told lawmakers.
“If it is about stopping the attacks, yes, we can recover. But if the attacks continue, it would be very difficult for the commission to recover.”
INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye
However, Commissioner for Information and Voter Education of INEC, Festus Okoye, has assured Nigerians that the commission is prepared to organise the elections as planned.
He gave the assurance on Sunday night when he featured on a Channels TV programme, Sunday Politics.
Responding to a question on concerns that the commission is likely to postpone the 2023 election just like it did in 2019, Okoye noted that the INEC chairman has assured that the elections won’t be shifted because of logistics issues.
“We are committed to the conduct of free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections and we are working assiduously to make sure we give Nigerians the best election ever. And that is our commitment to the people of Nigeria and we are not going to fail,” the INEC spokesman said.
On whether President Muhammadu Buhari was correct when he said that the federal government has given INEC all it needs for the 2023 polls, Okoye said, “We have not complained to the National Assembly that we are not prepared.”
Asked about the 2019 experience when the commission was silent over funding issues, he said, “The chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, has promised the people of this country that under his watch no election will be postponed or rescheduled on account of logistics or logistics challenges and we are committed to that.
“As of today we have the full compliments of what we need to prosecute the elections.”
FURTHER READING
According to the INEC calendar, the presidential and national assembly elections will hold on February 25, 2023, while the governorship and state assembly elections will be held on March 11, 2023.
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