INEC Changes Dates For 2023 General Poll

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, Politics Sunday, February 27th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has adjusted the dates for the 2023 general elections, following Friday’s signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, said this at a news conference on the release of the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 General Elections in Abuja on Saturday.
Yakubu said that the Presidential and National Assembly elections, earlier slated for Feb. 18, 2023, have been shifted to Feb.25, 2023, while Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections have been adjusted from March 4, 2023 to March 8, 2023.
According to him, with the adjustment, the 2023 General Election is now 363 days away.
“President Muhammadu Buhari having signed the Electoral Bill 2022 into law made history by making it the fourth time since the restoration of democracy in Nigeria in May 1999 that the Electoral Act was repealed and re-enacted,” Yakubu said.
This , he said gave INEC the leeway to begin 2023 general elections activities.
“You may recall that in 2017, the commission decided to fix dates for general elections in Nigeria. This decision was based on our determination to create certainty in the electoral calendar.
“It is to also enable all stakeholders in the electoral process ,the electoral commission, political parties and candidates, security agencies, observers, the media among others to prepare adequately for elections.
“By that decision, Presidential and National Assembly election shall hold on the third Saturday of the month of February of each general election year, while governorship and state Houses of Assembly election shall follow two weeks later.
“Consequently, the 2023 General Election was scheduled to commence on Feb. 18, 2023 with the Presidential and National Assembly elections, followed by the governorship and state Houses of Assembly election on March 4, 2023,” Yakubu said.
He added: “However, the commission could not release the detailed timetable and schedule of activities for the General Election, as it normally would, because of the pending enactment of the Electoral Act, 2022 which has now been signed into law.”
Yakubu said that the Electoral Act 2022, together with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, formed the legal basis for conducting all elections in Nigeria.
He said that in particular, the Electoral Act provided strict timelines for the implementation of electoral activities based on the date of the General Election.