The Independent National Electoral Commission on Friday released the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a meeting of Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security in Abuja, said the constitution, Electoral Act 2022 and the commission’s regulations and guidelines would now constitute the legal framework for the 2023 poll.
During the meeting, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, represented by Sanusi Galadima, vowed to crush perpetrators of violence and forestall any act that would undermine the 2023 polls.
According to him, the coming into force of the Electoral Act 2022 had made it necessary to review the commission’s regulations and guidelines that govern the conduct of elections.
“On several occasions, the commission has assured Nigerians that we are finalising the regulations and guidelines for the elections. I am glad to announce that the document is ready and will be presented to Nigerians shortly. The soft copy will be uploaded to our website with the link shared on our social media platforms”, he said.
Yakubu said INEC has virtually concluded the planning processes for the 2023 elections, nine months ahead of the polls, with the release of the regulations and guidelines and earlier publication of the Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2026 and Election Project Plan 2023.
He said that the training manual would also be presented to Nigerians in the next couple of weeks while INEC would focus on election administration going forward.
Yakubu listed such areas to include logistics, training, voter education, technology, sensitisation against vote-buying, inclusivity measures and security, among others.
He stressed that the ICCES would continue to play a critical role and extended the appreciation of the electoral umpire to all security agencies for their support.
Beside the general elections, Yakubu also spoke about their preparations for the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States, as well as the Continuous Voter Registration.
He said, “As the commission is getting ready for the Ekiti state governorship election, it has aalso gone far with similar preparations for the Osun state governorship election holding July 16, 2022.
Speaking on the ongoing CVR scheduled to end on June 30, the he lamented that the security situation in many parts of the country had not allowed full deployment as planned.
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