The Federal Government Tuesday assured Nigerians that the 2023 general elections will hold as planned.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance in Abuja at the 17th edition of the “President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023).”
Mohammed was reacting to a widely-circulated report, credited to an INEC official, Abdullahi Zuru, that the 2023 general elections face a serious threat of cancellation due to insecurity, Premium Times reports.
INEC has scheduled the presidential and the National Assembly election for 25 February and the governorship/state assembly election for 11 March.
Mr Zuru, who is the chairman of the Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), said at the “validation workshop of election security training resources’’ in Abuja on Monday, that election security was significant to the commission, given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constituted the core of the Polling Unit election officials.
He said that if the insecurity was not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder the declaration of election results and precipitate a constitutional crisis.
But Mr Mohammed said there is no cause for alarm as all hands are on deck to ensure peaceful and credible conduct of the polls.
“The position of the Federal Government remains that the 2023 will be held as planned. Nothing has happened to change that position.
