InsiderBLM Africa
Despite concerns about widespread insecurity, including attacks on election officials, the head of Nigeria’s electoral commission said the country will not delay the presidential election scheduled for next month.
Speaking at London’s Chatham House think tank, Mahmood Yakubu asserted that despite the difficulties, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was well equipped to facilitate voting in Africa’s most populous country.
He declared, “The commission is not considering, let alone planning, to delay the 2023 general election.” “We will proceed with holding the election as planned.”
On February 25, Nigerians will elect a new president, a decision that could have an impact on the entire continent. After serving two terms, the current president Muhammadu Buhari’s term is limited by the constitution.
Many see Nigeria, which has 200 million people and Africa’s largest economy, as being essential to regional stability because of its fight against Islamist insurgents in the northeast.
However, Nigeria is experiencing unheard-of levels of insecurity, which have led to attacks on the INEC, such as the bombing of the electoral commission’s headquarters in Imo state last month.
Just hours before voting began in 2019, the INEC postponed the election by one week due to logistical problems.
Yakubu stated that the INEC would help Nigeria’s millions of internally displaced people vote in camps.
Additionally, he stated that the commission had tested all of its biometric voter identification machines, which are still fairly new and have experienced some technical difficulties in recent statewide elections, and was confident that everyone who had registered would be able to cast a ballot.
We’re really, really at ease with the voting machines where we are, he said.
