The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says it would not release the 2023 general election timetable until the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is signed into law.
Chairman of the Commission Mahmood Yakubu made this known in Abuja during the INEC’s first quarterly consultative meeting with political parties. According to him, the early passage of the bill is crucial in preparations for the 2023 election.
He noted that the Electoral body would publish the 2023 election timetable once the bill is signed into law, adding that all critical preparations for the poll, which is just 396 days away, must be concluded this year.
Yakubu said on the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly, INEC is encouraged by the Senate President’s assurance to give priority attention to the bill when they reconvenes from its recess, and the commitment by the President to assent to the bill as soon as the issue of mode of primaries by political parties is resolved.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had, in a letter to the National Assembly, withheld assent to the amendment bill due to controversies surrounding the mode of primaries by parties.
