2023 Elections Will Take Place As Scheduled – INEC Chairman, Yakubu Mahmoud Insists

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated unequivocally that the upcoming elections will take place.

The apex electoral body reversed its position only a few days after expressing concern that the election might not take place.

INEC stated on Wednesday, January 11, that nothing would prevent the polls from taking place on February 25 and March 11.

Recall that on Monday, January 9, INEC’s Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, warned that the general election faces serious threats of cancellation and postponement if security challenges in various parts of the country do not improve.

Zuru, who represented the commission’s chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, at the validation of election security training resources in Abuja, also expressed concern that canceling or postponing the elections due to insecurity in some areas would not only impede the declaration of election results, but would also spark a constitutional crisis.

However, INEC Chairman Prof Yakubu stated in his keynote address yesterday at the presentation of the National Register of Voters to the 18 registered political parties in Abuja that security agencies have given strong assurances of adequate security and safety of electoral officials to allow for the conduct of peaceful and credible polls across states.

In his words

“The commission is not contemplating any adjustment to the election timetable, let alone the postponement of the general election. For the avoidance of doubt, the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday February 25, 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday, March 11, 2023.

The repeated assurance by the security agencies for the adequate protection of our personnel, materials and processes also reinforces our determination to proceed. The 2023 general election will hold as scheduled. Any report to the contrary is not the official position of the commission.”