No plan to cancel 2023 polls - Nigerian govt

The federal government Tuesday assured Nigerians that the 2023 general elections will hold as planned.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance in Abuja at the 17th edition of the “President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023)”

Mr Mohammed was reacting to a widely-circulated report, credited to an INEC official, Abdullahi Zuru, that the 2023 general elections face a serious threat of cancellation due to insecurity.

INEC has scheduled the presidential and the National Assembly election for 25 February and the governorship/state assembly election for 11 March.

Mr Zuru, who is the chairman of the Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), said at the “validation workshop of election security training resources’’ in Abuja on Monday, that election security was significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constituted the core of the Polling Unit election officials.

He said that if the insecurity was not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder the declaration of election results and precipitate a constitutional crisis.

No cause for alarmBut Mr Mohammed said there is no cause for alarm over the fake report as all hands are on deck to ensure peaceful and credible conduct of the polls.

“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 with 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,” the minister assured.

NAN reports that the scorecard series was launched by the Ministry of Information and Culture in October last year to showcase the achievements of the Buhari administration.
Since the series started, 16 ministers have featured and presented the achievements of their ministries and the parastatal agencies under them.

The 17th edition featured the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, who also presented the strides that have been made in the country’s health sector.

(NAN)