By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it has virtually concluded the planning processes for the 2023 General Election nine months ahead of the election
The Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who was speaking at a special meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee On Election Security, reitterated readiness of the Commission for the 2023 General election.
He announced that the Commission’s Reviewed Regulations and Guidelines to govern the conduct of elections which was necessitated by the coming into force of the Electoral Act 2022, is ready and uploaded on their website adding that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the Regulations and Guidelines constitute the electoral legal framework
Professor Yakubu, noted that with the release of the Regulations and Guidelines, the publication of the Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2026 and Election Project Plan 2023 earlier, the Commission will now focus on election administration, logistics, training, voter education, technology, sensitization against vote buying, inclusivity measures and security.
According to the chairman, as the deadline for the suspension of the CVR on 30th June, 2022 approaches, long queues are building up, especially in some States in the South East, Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) even though the Commission had anticipated the last-minute surge and established additional centres and deployed more machines to register citizens which the security situation in many parts of the country has not allowed full deployment as planned.
In his response, the National Security Adviser, NSA, Babagana Mungunu, represented by Sanusi Galadima, said, INEC and ICCES members will continue to collaborate to ensure a hitch free election.
The NSA urged all ICCES members to be abreast of the happenings and be fully prepared to ensure that acts capable of undermining the smooth conduct of elections are forestalled especially as political activities are ongoing, to round off primary elections towards the 2023 elections.
NSA commended the Inspector General of Police and other security agencies for the wonderful work they have been doing to ensure a credible election in the country.
