The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that the 2023 general elections will not be postponed on account of logistics challenges.
The Commissioner for Information and Voter Education of INEC, Festus Okoye, gave the commission’s assurance on Sunday when he featured on a television programme.
INEC had fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 25, 2023, while governorship and state assembly elections will be held on March 11, 2023.
Asked about concerns that the commission is likely to postpone the 2023 election just like it did in 2019, Okoye noted that INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has assured that the elections won’t be shifted because of logistics issues.
Okoye said, “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.”
On whether the president was correct when he said that it 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.”
He added that elections are a multi-stakeholder venture and shared responsibility, even as he said INEC will not fail in its own responsibility.
