General News
Anthony Isibor
IN preparation for the 2023 General Election, INEC, on Tuesday held a validation workshop to intensify efforts towards ensuring that all Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs are allowed to vote in the forthcoming 2023 elections.
The meeting, which was held in Abuja, was to allow for stakeholders review and validation of a revised policy framework for voting by Internally Displaced Persons, IDPS, and to ensure that no eligible Nigerian is disenfranchised in the forthcoming 2023 elections on account of displacement, disability or other circumstances that may limit citizens’ participation in the electoral process.
The workshop was also to collate the contributions of various stakeholders to the draft document to enrich the framework as well as the regulations for voting by IDPs, and also to ensure validation of the document.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, while giving his opening remarks noted that the policy and framework was first designed for the 2015 elections by the Commission and was revised and validated in 2018 for the 2019 General Elections.
According to him, the revised framework which was presented to stakeholders have taken into consideration the increased number of IDPs as a result of widespread insecurity nationwide, will incorporate not only the displaced citizens arising from armed conflicts, but also natural emergencies such as flooding, and will align the framework with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically Section 24(1) which empowers the Commission to ensure that, as far as practicable, no Nigerian is disenfranchised on account of displacement by emergency situations.
Present at the meeting were the National Commissioners of INEC, representatives of various security agencies and other members of ICCES, representatives of various civil society organizations, International Development Partners, Resident Electoral Commissioners, Administrative Secretaries and other officials of the Commission, among others.
A.I
Tags: INEC Professor Mahmood Yakubu
