The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called on Nigerians to participate fully in all electoral activities particularly the ongoing display of the register of voters for claims and objections, as well as collection of the Permanent Voter Cards.
Chairman of the commission Prof Mahmood Yakubu who made this call on the 100 days before the general election, also called on political leaders to conduct their campaigns peacefully, eschewing divisiveness, rancour and violence.
Prof Yakubu stated that election is a multi stakeholder activity and pledged that the commission would continue to play their own part diligently and conscientiously while urging citizens to play their part with the view to work together to have the elections that Nigerians yearn for and which the world expects from Nigeria.
He also pledged to engage with the stakeholders namely political parties CSOs, the media and other critical stakeholders saying that Nigerians deserve to know the progress being made by the commission and the challenges (if any) confronting it in its preparation for the general election.
He said the commission, in the next few weeks, would start bi-weekly media briefing followed by as the country gets closer to the election, promising that there would be daily briefing in the week leading to the election.
He maintained that the commissions allegiance is to Nigeria. “Our loyalty is to Nigerians who want free, fair, credible and verifiable election supported by technology which guarantees transparent accreditation and upload of polling unit results for citizens to view in real time on election day.
“It is for this reason that the bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) were introduced. There is no going back on the deployment of BVAS and IREV for the 2023 general elections”, the INEC chairman assured.
