Yakubu visits the burned down INEC office in Ogun

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, said on Tuesday that attacks on the commission's offices in some states will not prevent him from holding the general elections in 2023.

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Mr. Yakubu said this when he visited the commission's burnt-out office in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.

The INEC office located in the Iyana morgue area in Abeokuta was razed recently.

The incident happened days after the offices of the commission were similarly burned down in other parts of the country.

The INEC chairman, who was accompanied by some executives from the commission, said five of his offices had been attacked in the space of four months, but he is unwavering in his commitment to organize the next elections to be held in February and March.

He said that despite thug attacks on the offices, the commission will work to hold credible, free and fair elections in 2023.

He disclosed that a total of 65,699 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had been burned at the Abeokuta office, but promised that the commission would reprint the cards in a short time for the owners.< /p>

"The purpose of our visit to this office is to gain a better insight into the extent of the damage, to meet our own staff, particularly where they have moved to Oke-Ilewo, to bring them up morale and to reassure the people of Abeokuta South that despite this unfortunate incident, elections will be held in Abeokuta South in 2023.

“Whatever materials we have lost, the commission is working to replace them. We lost 65,699 PVC. We want to assure anyone who hasn't picked up their PVCs that may have been affected that we plan to reprint the PVCs soon and bring them back to Abeokuta South for people to pick them up and vote.

"We want to assure the people of Abeokuta South that this incident, terrible as it is, will not deter and discourage us, our staff from holding the 2023 general election. And we want once again assure the people of Abeokuta South, the people of Ogun State and the people of Nigeria that the commission is committed to making the 2023 elections the best ever, we will not be deterred or intimidated by anti-democratic arson and retrograde elements.

"As soon as we receive the VIN numbers to be collected by the state office, we will reprint them, it takes no more than two days to print 65,000 PVCs, but we need to get the voter ID numbers ( VIN) for cards that have been lost so that we can quickly reprint them. It takes no more than two days to reprint this PVC number.

"It's very disappointing, especially since in the last four months five of our offices have been attacked across the country, but that will never discourage us, we will ensure that the burnt and destroyed equipment is replaced. , to reprint the PVCs and to organize elections,” Mr. Yakubu said.

The INEC President told all the people and institutions involved in the electoral process to remain confident in the holding of the elections.

“My message to stakeholders, political parties, civil society organizations (CSOs), security agencies and even people like you in the media is to remain confident that the elections will be held despite this very serious setback. temporary," he said.

Mr. Yakubu denied reports that a court ordered INEC to continue voter registration until next year.

“The court never made this judgment. In fact, the court said that INEC should continue its preparations for the elections. The court never said that INEC should resume continuous registration voters,” he said.

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