2023 general election may be canceled or postponed — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that the forthcoming general election may be canceled or postponed if the insecurity across the country is not dealt with decisively.

INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, gave the warning while speaking at the validation of election security training resources in Abuja on Monday, January 9.

“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 cri§is.

We all appreciate the fact that election security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process.

Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 general elections, the commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security are provided for election personnel, materials and processes.

This is particularly significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts of the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps members constitute the core of the polling unit election officials.

This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, security personnel in particular and all election officials, in general, must be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times,” he said.