The president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, says that the rules and guidelines for the 2023 general elections will be ready ten months before the elections.
\nThe elections begin in February 2022, an indication that INEC plans to publish the guidelines before the end of April.
\nThis is stated in the INEC Daily Bulletin issued this Tuesday.
\nYakubu gave the hint when he received a delegation from the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Abuja.
\nThe president of the INEC recalled that in 2019 the commission was limited by time due to the uncertainty that the electoral legal framework dragged on.
\nHe said he saw the commission sign the regulations and guidelines on January 19, 2019, just weeks before the election.
\n\u201cBut we hope that this time we will sign the regulations and guidelines at least 10 months before the next general election, which is very good progress for us.\u201d
\nSpeaking more about the source of the commission\u2019s power to develop the guidelines and regulations, the INEC president said that the commission was happy with the assent of\u00a0President Muhammadu Buhari\u00a0to the Electoral Law Project.
\n\u201cWe already have a new electoral law, from which we began to work on the regulations and guidelines.
\n\u201cThe Electoral Act cannot say everything, so the National Assembly donates part of its power to the INEC to make Regulations and Guidelines and these Regulations and Guidelines have forms of subsidiary legislation.\u201d
\nIt also revealed that the INEC had practically finished the processes.
\n\u201cOur Electoral Project Plan (EPP) is ready and about to be published, the Strategic Plan is already finished and published.
\n\u201cWe also publish and publish the Guidelines and send all three documents to interested parties and the general public next month.\u201d
\nEarlier in his remarks, John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey congratulated INEC on the successes it has achieved in the areas where it made recommendations after the 2019 general election.
\nHe recalled that the foundation was able to visit in 2019 and discussed with the INEC several things that were underway at that time
\n\u201cOne was the advancement of the Electoral Law, and I would like to congratulate you on the approval of the Electoral Law.
\n\u201cSecond, we discuss and encourage the creation of a new department on Gender and Inclusion, here at INEC and we congratulate you for the creation of this department and the successful implementation.
\n\u201cThe third thing we discussed was the creation of new voting units and I understand that these have also been completed and that they are well prepared for 2023.\u201d
\nMr. Palfrey explained that his mission on the commission was to learn more about INEC\u2019s plans for the 2023 general elections.
\n\u201cWe also thank him for his leadership internationally and for his partnership with us as we seek to ensure government accountability and fight corruption in countries around the world, with a particular focus on Nigeria.\u201d
\nMr. Buhari signed the Electoral Law Amendment Bill on February 25.
\nThe legislation was transmitted to the president on January 31 after it was reviewed by both houses of the National Assembly.
\nBuhari had initially rejected the bill after the National Assembly made direct primary compulsory for the country\u2019s political parties.
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\nThe president said the provision \u201cviolates the spirit of democracy.\u201d
\nIt was on that basis that the Senate and House of Representatives reworked the bill to provide for indirect and direct primaries, as well as consensus candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, says that the rules and guidelines for the 2023 general elections will be ready ten months before the elections. The elections begin in February 2022, an indication that INEC plans to publish the guidelines before the end of April. This is stated in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n