INEC withdraws storage of sensitive electoral materials with CBN over Emefiele’s partisanship

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has withdrawn the storage of sensitive electoral materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for safety after the exposure of the partisanship of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, had declared that “election materials will no longer be lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria as the 18th of June governorship election in Ekiti State approaches.”

The INEC Chairman, during a dialogue forum on Elections in Abuja, maintained that the Commission will devise means of lodging its materials beside the CBN. He explained that the decision was made to ensure that “electoral materials for the upcoming elections are not tampered with.”

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had shown interest in running for the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the ruling APC.

The purchase of the N100 million APC presidential forms by support groups for the 2023 presidential race, generated controversies, including demand for Emefile’s resignation, and subsequently, raised apprehension about the safety of INEC materials for elections stored at the CBN for safe keeping.