2023 general election: INEC to meet Ganduje, Ortom, IGP, others

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled a crucial meeting with some state governors ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The meeting slated for next Tuesday, November 22, 2022, at the Nicon Luxury, Abuja, will have INEC Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye; Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje; his counterpart in Bauchi, Bala Mohammed; Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, all in attendance.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, will attend the meeting, Naija News understands.

Others include the presidential candidate of Action Alliance, Hamza Al-Mustapha; the Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani; the Nigerian Union of Journalists; and other stakeholders in the electoral process.

The meeting schedule was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by the organiser of the programme, Edwin Olofu.

Olofu, who is also the Managing Director of Platinum Post, stated that participants at the roundtable would debate on how the country could achieve a credible and violent-free election next year.

The statement also said that Al-Mustapha would deliver a keynote address on the theme, ‘Contemporary Security Challenges & its Effects on 2023 Elections.’

2023: INEC Cancels Differential Accreditation And Voting, Says Both To Be Done Simultaneously
Meanwhile, INEC had, ahead of the 2023 general elections, disclosed the cancellation of differential accreditation and voting time frame.

Naija News reports that the electoral body said the move avoids discrepancies between the number of accredited voters and the total votes cast.

The electoral umpire noted that in 2023, polls accreditation and voting would be done simultaneously, and there won’t be time differences between both exercises.

In previous elections, voters were first accredited in the morning and returned to cast their votes at noon of the same day election.

However, INEC has stated that would no longer happen, as voters will now be allowed to vote immediately after they are accredited at their various polling units in the 2023 general elections.

According to INEC, some voters at various polling units across the federation get accredited in the morning but don’t come back to vote later at noon. This development has caused a difference between the number of accredited voters and the total votes cast.

The commission’s spokesperson, Festus Okoye, who disclosed this on a programme on TVC said voters would now be allowed to cast their votes immediately after they must have been successfully accredited through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) only.