2023 election to hold as scheduled – INEC chairman

.Presents voters register to parties

.Says Lagos, Kano, Kaduna top registered voters list with 7,060,195, 5,921,370 and 4,335,208 respectively

.74.4% younger population to determine Tinubu, Atiku, Obi’s fate

By Tunde Opalana

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has allayed the fear of possible cancellation or postponement of the 2023 general election.

Reacting to a story in the media yesterday alleging that the Commission raised an alarm of possible cancellation for security reasons, the chairman urged Nigerians not to reckon with any news contrary to the fact that INEC is going ahead with planned schedule for the election which is 43 days away.

He reassured that as a commission, INEC is fully prepared to conduct the 2023 polls and never contemplate shifting election dates or an outright cancellation.

Politicians and other Nigerians of diverse shades of opinion kicked against the alleged envisaged cancellation and cautioned the Commission to guide against any unforeseen circumstances.

Prof. Yakubu made the clarification in Abuja on Wednesday while presenting Registered Voters for the 2023 Election to leadership of the 18 registered political parties at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking on the readiness to conduct the polls, he said at no time in the recent history of the Commission has so much of the forward planning and implementation been accomplished 43 days ahead of a General Election.

“Therefore, the Commission is not contemplating any adjustment to the election timetable, let alone the postponement of the General Election.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday 11th March 2023.

“The repeated assurance by the security agencies for the adequate protection of our personnel, materials and processes also reinforces our determination to proceed.

“The 2023 General Election will hold as scheduled. Any report to the contrary is not the official position of the Commission,” said Yakubu.

As a further affirmation of the Commission’s readiness to conduct the 2023 General Election as scheduled, he said substantial quantities of sensitive and non-sensitive materials have already been deployed to various locations across the country.

“I would like to reiterate our commitment to transparent, credible and inclusive 2023 General Election. We will continue to take every step to protect the sanctity of the votes cast by citizens and to deal with infractions, including the arrest and prosecution of persons that attempt to perpetuate illegality at Polling Units on Election Day, be they underage voters or vote buyers,” he added.

According to the breakdown of the voters register, not less than 70,473.990 Nigerians between the age bracket 18 and 49 representing 74.40 percent of the total 94,469,008 total registered voters will determine the next president of Nigeria in the February 25 presidential poll.

Out of the 70,473,990, youth between age bracket of 18 and 34 years totalling 37,060,399 representing 39.65 percent are registered while Middle – aged between age bracket of 35 to 49 years representing 35.75 percent are expected to participate in the election.

According to the latest information released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 17,700,270 Elderly persons between age bracket 50 and 59 representing 18.94 percent of the total voting population will participate.

Older persons above 70 years numbering 5,294,748 and representing just 5.66 percent are eligible to vote.

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Breakdown of registered voters also shows that the total registered voters are divided into a total of 49,054,162 male and 44,414,846 female representing 52.5 percent and 47.5 percent respectively.

Distribution of voters by state shows that Lagos State has the highest number of 7,070,195 registered voters, followed by Kano and Kaduna with 5,921,370 and 4,335,208 registered voters respectively.

Rivers State has 3,537,190 voters, Katsina 3,516,719, Oyo 3,276675, Delta 3,321,797, Plateau 2, 789, 528, Benue 2,777,727 and Ogun 2,688,305.

Ekiti State has the least number of 987,647 registered voters while Bayelsa has 1,056,862, Yobe 1,484,146, Gombe 1,575,794 and Ebonyi 1, 597,646.