INEC announces date for 2023 Presidential elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced February 18 as the date for the 2023 presidential election.

The INEC chairperson, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this Thursday at the inauguration of the House of Representatives Special Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution held at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja. TheCable reported.

The Commission had conducted the last general election- the presidential and National Assembly polls – on February 23, 2019, while governorship and state assembly elections were held on March 9, last year.

Reports from local and international observers adjudged the elections violent.

An estimated 626 persons were killed across Nigeria in the six months between the start of the election campaign and the commencement of the general and supplementary elections, according to the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.

According to the report, Mr Yakubu urged the house members to ensure the timely review of the present Electoral Act for the use of technologies in the electoral process.

He also said there are just about 855 days left for the 2023 general election.

The commission had deployed the use of technology in the recent past Edo and Ondo governorship elections as part of its means in improving the electoral system.

It has also engaged over 40 ICT firms for the use of electronic voting and the collation of results.

Part of the innovations includes a dedicated online portal and INEC Result Viewing (IRV), to enable Nigerians view results from polling units in real-time on election days, as well as the use of the Z-pad.

In his remarks, the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the constitution review is important to “identify those areas where the laws of our land have not lived up to expectations” and fix the gaps.

“We are commencing this constitutional review process at a time of great and ongoing upheaval in our country. Mr Gbajabiamila said.

“New challenges emerge daily from every corner. Some of these challenges are of our own making, and others, we could not have foreseen or been prepared for,”

“Whichever may be the case, the Nigerian people look up to us as a government to proffer solutions that work, to do the heavy lifting of writing the new constitution, one better suited to our current aspirations and reflecting our vision of the future.”

The presidential election comes up every four years as stipulated by the country’s constitution.

Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, four presidents have emerged through the periodically held presidential elections