2023: Nigerian will elect leader they want, INEC assures

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that they will elect the leader they want because there will be no room for rigging in 2023.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC’s chairman who stated this at a seminar themed ‘2023 and beyond: leadership, politics, and citizens’ engagement,’ organised by St. James Anglican Church in Abuja on Saturday assured that INEC has fortified its portal.

The commission chairman who was represented by Chukwu Ogbuaja, deputy director, voter education, warned politicians to refrain from attempts to influence the electoral process, adding that INEC has the legal authority to investigate any election result that had been manipulated.

“Political parties that engage in rigging will face the same experience witnessed in Edo, Ondo, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun state governorship elections,” he said.

“Section 65 of the act gives the commission the power within seven days to review a declaration and return made where the commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.

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“The commission will exercise this power responsibly based on the provisions of the constitution, the electoral act and its regulations and guidelines.

“We, in INEC, have a good message for all Nigerians. We have murdered and buried rigging in Nigeria. Apart from that, no voter can afford to vote more than once in any election in Nigeria.

“Also, there will be no case of over voting again in any polling station. Voting will be based on BVAS and other electronic devices by INEC.”

The chairman said the bimodal voter registration system (BVAS) will ensure that the fingerprints tally with the facials recorded.

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The processes, he said, are so transparently configured that finger and facial records are contained in the BVAS and thereafter, the results are uploaded to anyone that keys into the INEC portal anywhere in the world.

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“At the polling stations, the number of votes must be based on the number of voters accredited at the time of polling and not based on the number of registered voters. The number of accreditation at the polling station must tally with the number of actual voting. If it exceeded by one vote, the entire process would be invalidated,” he said.

Yakubu added that INEC is committed to leaving a legacy of a transparent election with the outcome of the 2023 general election.

In September, YIAGA Africa, a civil society organisation, had found some inconsistencies with the electronic transmission of results during the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun.