2023: The will of Nigerians shall prevail — INEC
2 min read
Independent National Electoral Commission
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the will of Nigerians will prevail during the February 25 and March 11 general election.
He promised that all votes will definitely count in this year’s elections.
Speaking when a delegation of the International Federation of Electoral System (IFES) visited the commission’s headquarters yesterday in Abuja, Yakubu said INEC had put everything in place to conduct a free, fair and credible election.
The INEC chairman explained that part of the commission’s plan for a credible election is the decision to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) to get the machines ready for the polls.
He said whatever challenges that would be discovered during the test-run of the BIVAS machines would be addressed before the commencement of the elections on February 25.
According to him, INEC has enough time to address such challenges.
Yakubu said, “On Saturday, we announced an extension for the collection of permanent voter’s card (PVC) by registered voters. We believe that it is important for every Nigerian to be given an opportunity to collect his or her PVC ahead of the election. If an extension of time is what we need, so be it. The commission has granted the extension.
“I want to appeal to Nigerians to see the extension as an opportunity to collect their PVCs. On the part of the commission, we are giving our commitment that the election is going to be free, fair and credible, and the will of Nigerians will prevail.”
The INEC chairman said the interaction with IFES was taking place when the commission was implementing the 12th item out of the 14 it listed ahead of this year’s polls.
He invited civil society organisations (CSOs), political parties, and the media “to come and observe the deployment of these (BVAS) machines for the mock accreditation on Saturday”.
