BEVERLY HILLS, October 03, (THEWILL) – The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on Tuesday warned politicians and their parties against going about now soliciting for electoral support, stating that such action as illegal.
He disclosed this at a quarterly consultative meeting with the media held at the commission’s secretariat in Abuja, where he disclosed that the commission has commenced work on the budget for the 2019 general elections.
“Let me warn political parties and aspirants. We have not released the schedule of activities for the elections. Anything that anybody does is illegal before the law. They should wait for the timetable of the elections,” he cautioned.
THEWILL recalls that the Ekiti state Governor, Ayodele Fayose had last Thursday declared his intention to run for the nation’s presidency in 2019, challenging other interested aspirants to openly state their bid. On Sunday, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed his ambition to seek re-election in 2019.
Yakubu went on to say, “As you are aware, we have concluded the strategic plan. We are now working on the Election Project Plan. Once we conclude the Election Project Plan, a number of things would follow among which is the election budget for the 2019 general elections which would be released next week. We are unable to give you a figure for now”.
The national electoral body, while pledging its commitment to conduct a free and fair election in Anambra state, promised to deploy 6200 Smart Card Readers and equally make use of e-tracking for the November 18 election in Anambra State.
The INEC Chairman stated that while 5200 card readers have been tested, trusted and ready for deployment, the remaining 1000 machines are still undergoing test.
He expressed the firm conviction that the election would not be inconclusive, indicating that the commission might conduct a bye-election for the vacant State Assembly election on the same day with the Anambra governorship poll.
Yakubu appealed for calm, assuring that “elections in Anambra will be free and fair. There is no way it can be anything than free and fair. This is the irreducible minimum. This should be taken for granted on the part of the commission.
“For a very long time, Anambra election has not been concluded on first ballot but we are determined to conclude Anambra election on first ballot”.
