By Joy Odor
Senate on Wednesday, assured the general public that the current insecurity in the country and the headcount being planned by the National Population Commission, would not affect the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Chairman, Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Senator Kabiru Gaya gave the assurance in Abuja while speaking to journalists shortly after defending his Committee’s budget report before the Committee on the Appropriation.
Gaya said his Committee had series of engagements with INEC management and had presented evidences from various security agencies that the insecurity situation would not disrupt the polls, saying the two agencies responsible for both the headcount and the polls could also work together.
“The general elections will hold in 2023. There is a full assurance that elections would be held in over 95 per cent of the country. The are strategies already to secure areas that are prone to attacks during the election.
“Additional security measures would be put in place to make sure that the polls are free of disruptions.
“Both the NPC and the INEC could even work together in such a way that there would not be interference. It doesn’t matter if the two exercises are close. They will not be held on the same day” he said.
Gaya narrated that the additional requests demanded by the INEC concerning the 2023 general elections would be considered by the National Assembly but he did not give details of the amount being sought by the electoral umpire.
The Chairman of the Appropriation panel, Senator Barau Jibrin and other Committee members had during the session informed that the Gaya’s Committee did a meticulous job.
