Victor EzejaThe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has debunked report of its purported contemplation of postponing the 2023 General Elections.
The Commission made the clarification in a tweet on Monday evening while reacting to a report circulating online with the title: “INEC May Postpone Feb 25 Election by a week or two.”
The report said that INEC may shift the 25th February presidential election to 4th March due to scarcity of the new naira notes and withdrawal limits placed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which has caused a cash crunch across the country.
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The report quoted the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, as saying so upon his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja from Lagos on Monday.
However, the electoral body through its official Twitter handle, urged the public to disregard the report, describing it as “fake.”
“Our attention has been drawn to a fake report circulating on the social media with the title: ‘INEC May Postpone Feb 25 Election by a week or two’.
“The Commission will not and is not contemplating postponing the 2023 General Election. Nigerians should disregard it,” INEC tweeted on Monday evening.
Earlier on Monday, the INEC Chairman, at a meeting with the national leaders of political parties in Abuja, said that the February and March election will not hold in 240 polling units across 28 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for not having registered voters.
INEC had in 2021 expanded the number of polling units from 119,973 to the current figure of 176,846.
Prof. Yakubu said efforts were made to redistribute voters to the polling units to avoid the congestion in some polling units which could create difficulties during voting.
The INEC Chairman who noted that some people cannot easily identify their polling, advised registered voters to visit the commission’s website to confirm the locations of their polling units.
READ ALSO: 2023 Elections: How To Confirm Your Polling Unit Online
“The Commission is advising voters to confirm the locations of their polling units through a dedicated portal on our website.
“In addition, all voters who have been assigned to new polling units will receive text messages from the Commission indicating their polling units.
“We have also compiled the register of such voters and our State offices will give it wide publicity, especially for those who may not have provided their telephone numbers during voter registration or those whose numbers may have changed,’’ Yakubu stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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