Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), says the forthcoming elections will hold as
planned.
Yakubu spoke after a meeting with the Federal Executive
Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The INEC chairman’s statement comes as Nigerians across the
country battle with the scarcity of petrol and new naira notes.
Concerns have been raised about how the situation may affect the conduct of the forthcoming presidential and governorship elections on February 25 and March 11 respectively.
Yakubu said the meeting with the FEC was to brief the
council about the commission’s readiness to conduct the elections.
He said members of the council were taken through all the
preparations put in place for the election and how challenges are being
addressed.
“I can tell you two of these challenges quickly. The first
one is the availability of petroleum products. We had a meeting with the
National Union of Road Transport Workers and they raised that as an issue of
concern,” he said.
“Immediately after
that meeting, we interfaced with the leadership of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and right now there’s a technical community
working.
“The idea is for them to avail us the use of their over 900
land mega stations as well as floating mega stations nationwide for the purpose
of stocking products to ensure that the commission doesn’t suffer any
encumbrances in the movement of personnel and materials for the elections.
“The second one is the currency issue. Again, we had an
engagement yesterday with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. And he
assured us that the commission will not suffer encumbrances on that score.
Fortunately for us, all our accounts, national and state are with the apex
bank.
“So, we raised those challenges and we have found a solution
to those challenges.
“So, be rest assured
that the elections will hold as scheduled on
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INEC will postpone this presidential election That's sure
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