The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has restated the fact that INEC’s commitment remains only to Nigerians and not to any political party or candidate.
Yakubu, who made the remarks in a lecture delivered at Chatham House, London, on Tuesday, ahead of the 2023 general election, said the law requires INEC to be committed to only Nigerians and not political parties or candidates.
The INEC boss promised Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that the 2023 general election will be free, fair, credible and inclusive, adding that the commission cherishes its institutional independence and integrity.
According to him, the commission does not take the pledge that that it has repeatedly made to Nigerians lightly and is therefore leaving no stone unturned in its preparations.
He said the commission has left no stone unturned in preparing for it, despite several challenges.
“But all elections, especially those involving the type of extensive national deployment like we do in Nigeria, will naturally come with challenges.
“We have worked closely with stakeholders and development partners to confront these challenges and we are satisfied with our
preparations so far.
“Our commitment remains only to Nigerians and not to any political party or candidate. That is what the law requires of us. We cherish the institutional independence and integrity of the Commission,” he said.
Yakubu also noted “there is no doubt that violence and threat of violence are major challenges to credible election in
2023.
He added that violence makes deployment for elections difficult, particularly where some of the attacks are targeted at the electoral process and participants.
He however noted that the commission has been working with security agencies and other stakeholders to establish mechanisms to understand, track
and mitigate security challenges.
“We are working collaboratively in
the context of ICCES, and we also
have the Election Violence Mitigation
and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT), which
is a research and diagnostic tool for
predicting and mitigating election
violence prior to elections.
“In addition, there is the Election Risk Management Tool (ERM), which tracks and reports general risks to elections. In all, we feel assured by the actions we have taken and our collaboration with the security agencies.
“The 2023 general election will proceed as planned. There is no plan to postpone the election. A more pertinent issue for the Commission is the fate of displaced voters,” he said.