No Cause For Alarm; Elections’ Will hold Next Month — Federal Government
The Federal Government assured yesterday that the general elections will hold as scheduled next month.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance at the 17th edition of President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series from 2015-2023 in Abuja.
The minister’s assurance came in the wake of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s alarm that the 2023 polls could be postponed or cancelled if the growing wave of election-related insecurity across the country was not checked.
The Chairman of, Board of The Electoral Institute TEI, INEC’s training arm, Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, who represented INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the validation of election security training resources, in Abuja, had said on Monday: “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 elections results and precipitate a constitutional crisis.
“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, security personnel in particular and all elected 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.”
No cause for alarm
However, Mohammed said the polls will be held, adding that the Federal Government is aware that INEC is working with security agencies to ensure that the elections are successfully held across the country.