2023 Election: INEC says ready for election in Niger

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says it is ready for the conduct of the 2023 general election in the state.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Alhaji Shehu Garki, gave the assurance during a stakeholders’ meeting at the commission’s headquarters in Minna on Wednesday.

He said the commission is at the moment putting finishing touches to preparations for the election.

The REC assured Niger people that the commission is ready to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

He stressed “on the day of the elections, every material needed for the elections would be ready to ensure free, fair and credible process.

“We have prepared and equipped our personnel with basic electoral knowledge for the conduct of free, fair and transparent election, come 2023,” he said.

He pointed out that any voter who is not accredited by the Card Reader will not cast his or her vote.

He explained that provisions would be made if the card reader develops any hitch in the process.

He called on stakeholders to mobilize eligible residents who had registered and not collected their permanent voters cards to do so at the commission’s office across the 25 local government areas to enable them participate in the electoral process.

He, therefore, called on community leaders to advise their youth against disrupting the elections, emphasising that INEC would not conduct elections in any community that could not advise its youths to be of good conduct.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that representatives of security agencies, leaders of political parties, Human rights and Civil society organisations as well as officials of INEC attended the stakeholders’ meeting.