Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, has on Tuesday, announced that the 2023 elections will take place as scheduled.
Mohammed made this statement in Abuja during the 17th meeting of the President’s scorecard series from 2015 to 2023.
Following claimed executions carried out by the terrorist Eastern Security Network, part of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, and banditry in the North-West, the minister gave his guarantee.
Since the 2019 general election, there have been over 41 attacks against the Independent National Electoral Commission’s offices in 14 states, with 13 of those incidents occurring in the South-East.
The attacks, which began in Abia on May 9, 2021, moved to the states of Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo, with three attacks each; Abia and Anambra, with one attack each; Bayelsa; and Akwa Ibom.
Additionally, INEC on Monday issued a warning regarding the nation’s deteriorating security situation and its potential effects on the 2023 general elections.
Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of INEC, observed that there is a major risk that the upcoming election could be called off if the level of insecurity in the nation doesn’t decrease while speaking at the validation of election security training resources in Abuja.
Yakubu, represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, explained that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of election results and precipitate constitutional crisis.
Mohammed, however, asserted that INEC is collaborating with the security services to ensure that polls are successfully held across the nation and that the Federal Government is aware of this.
He said, “Let me use this opportunity to respond to inquiries from the media over a widely-circulated report, credited to an INEC official that the 2023 general elections face a serious threat of cancellation due to insecurity.
“The position of the Federal Government remains that the 2023 elections will be held as planned. Nothing has happened to change that position. We are aware that INEC is working wth the security agencies to ensure that the elections are successfully held across the country.
“The security agencies have also continued to assure Nigerians that they are working tirelessly to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful atmosphere. Therefore, there is no cause for alarm.”
