I don’t foresee postponement of elections, says INEC chairman

Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says the commission is not anticipating the postponement of the general elections.

Speaking in an interview with The Osasu Show, Mahmood said INEC is “fully prepared for the election,” adding that the Osun election had a low turn out because it was an off-season election.

“We first and foremost deliberately planned the 2019 general elections,” Yakubu said

“I can’t foresee any possibility of postponement. INEC is not even contemplating the postponement of the 2019 general elections.”

Yakubu said Nigerians with temporary voter cards (TVCs) will not be allowed to vote, even if their name is on the list of registered voters, because TVCs cannot be accredited for voting.

He made it clear that registered voters who have not collected their PVCs will not be allowed to vote.

The INEC chairman also spoke on the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the amended electoral bill as presented by the national assembly.

He said INEC’s duty was to make sure the processes are as transparent as possible, and are free and fair.

Yakubu said “there are other actors that play roles during elections, they also have to play their roles to safeguard the processes to have acceptable outcomes”.

The Osasu Show full interview with the INEC chairman airs on AIT (Dstv channel 253) at 9am on Friday.