INEC Holds Stakeholders’ Meeting following Postponement of the Elections

Following the postponement of the General Elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) convened a Stakeholders’ meeting at 2pm on Saturday, 16th February 2019, to address election stakeholders. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu highlighted logistics challenges, as a major reason for the postponement and further explained that deployment of election materials was affected by bad weather conditions, as it was difficult to convey the materials by air. To this end, he expressed the Commission’s determination to hold elections at the same time across the country, as opposed to conducting staggered polls. He added that the attempted sabotage to INEC facilities and materials in three different locations across the country were obstacles to the Commission’s preparations, although they were swiftly addressed. He revealed that the reason for moving the elections by one week, as opposed to Monday, 18th February 2019, was to give time for the Smart Card Readers to be reconfigured; a process which takes five to six days. The meeting also featured the release of a new schedule of activities leading up to the elections.

 

 

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