The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu. on Tuesday spoke at the Chatham House, London on the theme “Nigeria’s 2023 elections: Preparations and priorities for electoral integrity and inclusion.”
Here are key takeaways during his appearance:
INEC is not contemplating or planning to postpone the 2023 general election. The commission will conduct the elections as scheduled.
There are 93.4 million registered voters expected to elect their representatives in 1,491 constituencies, spread across 176,846 polling units in Nigeria.
70.4 million of the 93.4 million registered voters are between 18 and 49 years, The 2023 election is for young people.
You can only vote in the polling unit where you registered, those who applied for PVC transfer should go to their new area to pick up their cards.
The commission is prepared to handle a run-off if it happens. Polling units results uploaded on INEC’s IReV portal are 99.9 accurate.
Read also: VIDEO: INEC is not contemplating postponing 2023 election – INEC Chairman
Nigeria’s current voter population is 16.7 million higher than the 76.7 million registered voters in all other West African countries put together. A general election in Nigeria is like conducting an election in the whole of West Africa and beyond
The use of mobile phones are banned in polling booths as part of efforts to curb vote-buying.
Much of the collected PVCs are from recent registrations. Lagos state has the largest number of uncollected cards despite over 600,000 PVCs collected in the state last month.
Attacks on INEC facilities will not deter the Commission
Legal/constitutional obstacles are preventing INEC from conducting diaspora voting,
INEC will provide assisting devices for people living with disabilities during the election.
21,000 ineligible voters identified in 15 states across Nigeria.
On women being elected to offices, he said that parties, not INEC, are responsible.
Political actors often try to undermine the election process by attacking the technology, casting doubts on its suitability, bypassing its use or indeed seeking to undermine its security. Hence, the early choice of a new voter accreditation technology, using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
