The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has reassured the international Community and Nigerians in Diaspora that the 2023 general elections will be amongst the best conducted elections in Nigeria.
Yakubu who spoke at Chatham House in London on Tuesday said the elections will be free, fair and credible.
He said, “We have promised Nigerians and
friends of Nigeria that the 2023 genera
election will be free, fair, credible and
inclusive and we have left no stone
unturned in preparing for it, despite
severa 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 Commission
does not take the pledge that we have
repeatedly made to Nigerians lightly.
“We are leaving no stone unturned in
our preparations. 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. With the
enthusiasm of Nigerians, the goodwill
of stakeholders and partners, and the
commitment of the Commission, we
believe that the 2023 general election
will be among the best conducted in
Nigeria.”
Yakubu also said that the 2023 general election is an election for the young people in Nigeria.
Giving a breakdown of voter registration and collection of Permanent Voter Cards in Nigeria, Yakubu said records on the ground showed that the election would be dominated by the Nigerian youth.
The INEC boss stated that there are currently 93.4 million registered voters in Nigeria out of which 37 million, that is 39 per cent, are young people between the ages of 18 and 34.
“And then they’re closely followed by 33.4 million or 35.3 percent middle-age voters between the ages of 35 and 49.
“Put together, these two categories constitute 75.39 per cent of registered voters in Nigeria. So, actually the 2023 election is the election of the young people, because they have the numbers. Even the majority of the PVCs collected are collected by young people,” Yakubu added.
“So, out of the 93.4 million, 70.4 million registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 49,” Yakubu stated.
He reminded the audience that the collection of the PVCs would end on January 29, adding that “we have to end it because before the election we will publish the number of PVCs collected on polling unit by polling unit basis nationwide.”
Yakubu, also commended the upsurge in the number of collected PVCs. He said over 600,000 eligible voters collected their PVCs in Lagos alone within the last one month.
