Nigeria has 16.7 million voters more than the rest of West Africa – Yakubu
The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said Nigeria has 16.7 million voters more than the rest of West Africa. available data indicates that
Yakubu stated this while delivering a lecture at London-based Chatham House on the topic ‘Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: Preparations and Priorities for Electoral Integrity and Inclusion’ on Tuesday afternoon,
“Based on figures compiled from electoral commissions and interior ministries in West Africa, Nigeria’s current voter population is 16.7 million higher than the 76.7 million registered in all the other countries put together – and there are 14 other elections in the sub-region.
“This means that a general election in Nigeria is like conducting an election in the whole of West Africa and beyond,” he said.
Asserting that INEC is not considering, let alone planning, to postpone the 2023 general elections, Yakubu denied any rumours of preparations to postpone the polls set for February 25 and March 11.
“We are going ahead to conduct the election as scheduled,” he said, adding that though there are “tremendous” challenges and expectations of INEC, the Commission was a beneficiary of “enormous” goodwill in Nigeria and beyond.
“We can surmount the challenges and ensure elections continue to get better,” the INEC chairman said.
He claims that making an early decision on election technology management tools, particularly primary election technology, is essential for success.
“We know that political actors often try to undermine the process by attacking the technology, casting doubts on its suitability, bypassing its use or indeed seeking to undermine its security.
“This informed the early choice of a new voter accreditation technology, using an electronic device called Bimordal Voter Accreditation System,” he said.
