Nigeria's General Elections 2023 Won't Be Postponed
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Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Body (INEC), asserted that the commission is not considering postponing the 2023 general elections or making any changes to the schedule.

While addressing the Chatham House think tank in London, Yakubu claimed the INEC is fully prepared to facilitate the election. "The commission is not contemplating, let alone planning, to postpone the 2023 general election," he said. "We are going ahead to conduct the election as scheduled," as reported by Reuters.

According to Yakubu, millions of internally displaced people in Nigeria would be assisted in voting at camps. He further noted that despite any technical issues the machines may have had in previous statewide elections, the commission had tested all its biometric voter identification machines and was confident that everyone who had registered would be able to cast their votes.

Yakubu also revealed that a diaspora voting strategy had been developed by the electoral authority. The Federal Government of Nigeria estimates that there are currently about 17 million Nigerian citizens living in the diaspora. However, these numbers do not include people who have left the country in recent years in what is commonly referred to as the "Japa" exodus.

The INEC Chairman addressed the ongoing concerns about legalizing voting among Nigerians living abroad and expressed optimism that these challenges would eventually be resolved. "There is assistance organized by the Nigerian government for other countries, particularly in our sub-region. For now, they don't vote. But the other leg of it is for Nigerians permanently residing outside Nigeria, that is, the diaspora voting," he said.

Meanwhile, Nigerians are clamoring to obtain their voting registrations in preparation for the impending presidential election. On Feb. 25, a crucial voting cohort of about 10 million freshly registered voters, of whom 84% are under the age of 34, will cast their votes. However, the Independent National Electoral Commission found that 1.12 million of those fresh registrations were invalid.

Large crowds gathered at schools in Lagos where election officials were distributing Permanent Voting Cards (PVCs).

"We need to get things right, and that is why I am taking the time and the stress to get my PVC," said Chuks David, a software developer from Lagos's Surulere area, as reported by Khaleej Times.