With 16 days to the presidential election, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will avail over 900 of its mega stations to provide petrol for the movement of its personnel and materials.
Yakubu revealed this to State House Correspondents shortly after briefing the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and other members of the Federal Executive Council at the State House, Abuja.
He said this was part of efforts to address the challenges of fuel and naira scarcity ahead of the February 25 and March 11 elections.
Having received the assurances of the CBN and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Yakubu said the commission is set for the exercise.
“I can tell you about the two challenges quickly. The first one is unavailability of petroleum products. We had a meeting with the National Union of Road Transport Workers and they raised that as an issue of concern.
“Immediately after that meeting, we interfaced with the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and right now there’s a technical committee working.
“The idea is for them to avail us the use of their over 900 land mega stations as well as floating mega stations nationwide for the purpose of stocking products to ensure that the commission doesn’t suffer any encumbrances in movement of personnel and materials for the elections.
“The second one is the currency issue. Again, we had an engagement yesterday with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and he assured us that the commission will not suffer an encumbrance on that score. Fortunately for us, all our accounts, national and state, are with the apex bank.
“So, we raised those challenges and we have found a solution to those challenges. Be rest assured that the elections will be held as scheduled on February 25 for national and on March 11 for the states’ elections,” he explained.
However, Mahmood declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s decision to restrain the Federal Government from proceeding with the new naira policy.
His briefing comes two days before an emergency meeting of the Council of State, to be convened by Buhari on Friday to discuss the national crisis ensuing from the new naira and petrol scarcity which has triggered pockets of protests nationwide.
The PUNCH reports that Yakubu had on Tuesday met the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, where he expressed concerns that the current cash crunch may affect the flow of logistics ahead of the elections.
The INEC Chairman received the assurances of the NSA on adequate security and that of the CBN Governor on the availability of cash to aid logistics.
Yakubu is also expected to appear before the Council of State on Friday alongside the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to discuss the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections as well as March 11 governorship and state houses of assembly poll.
Meanwhile, the commission said it has 4,989 polling units in Plateau State.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Oliver Agundu, stated this in Jos during a one-day roundtable discussion on the prevention and mitigation of violence during the forthcoming polls.
He said INEC had cleaned its register of underage voters, adding that electoral materials and personnel would be deployed in a timely manner.
The REC said, “As an electoral body, I can tell you that we are ready for the 2023 poll, as over 80 per cent of the pressure has been taken off the commission. Here in Plateau State, we have a total of 4,989 polling units where elections will be conducted. As a matter of fact, the sensitive materials have started arriving. All the trained personnel will be deployed before February 23. We have cleaned the underage registers, and the commission is committed to fairness, transparency, and credibility in the conduct of elections in Plateau State. So, what we need is cooperation from everyone.”
The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, James Christoff, who spoke on the need for voter integrity, said Nigeria’s democracy must be in line with global best practices.
