2023 ELECTIONS: “Declaration Of Results Will Be Done Speedily” - INEC

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that the presidential election on Saturday (today) will be concluded and a winner declared as quickly as possible.

It took the electoral umpire over two days to declare the winner of the 2019 presidential election.

But INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said the Commission will speed up the process this year.

“I just want to say that we will ensure that it (result declaration) will be done speedily. I can’t put a finger on the number of days or number of hours it will take, but it will be done speedily. We are aware of the anxiety and the need for us to conclude the process quickly, it will be concluded quickly,” Yakubu said during a media briefing in Abuja on Friday.

The INEC boss also assured that the process will not suffer any encumbrance due to the recent cash crunch triggered by the recent naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“It is not all our operations that are paid for by cash. In fact, the bulk of our procurement for both goods and services is done electronically, but we need a small amount of money to pay for the unbanked who render critical services, particularly at the local level.

“We anticipated this challenge and interacted with the Central Bank, they promised us that the little amount we need to pay for services in cash, they will make the funds available to us and they have done so.

“And these funds have already been accessed by our state offices for elections which is why the movement of personnel and materials in the last couple of days has gone on unhindered. So, I must give credit for our relationship with the Central Bank in that regard. So, the process won’t suffer any encumbrance as a result,” Yakubu added.