2023 polls will be the best ever – Yakubu

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has vowed that the 2023 general elections will be the best ever in the country.

He said this in Abuja on Tuesday when he received delegations of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and that of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

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He noted that the meeting was the first that INEC was hosting after Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, assuring that INEC would improve on its successes in subsequent elections.

“We assure you that we will continue to work not only hard but even harder to deliver the 2023 general elections.
“As for the preparation for the 2023 general elections, I want to assure you that we promised Nigerians that Ekiti was going to be good and Ekiti was a good election.

“We promised that Osun was going to be better, Osun was a better election. We are promising that the 2023 general elections will be our best election ever and we are committed to delivering best election ever,’’ Yakubu said.

Speaking earlier, Secretary of State for Ohio, United States and leader of the delegations, Mr. Frank LaRose,
commended INEC over its various efforts to improve on the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

LaRose, who is also an election commissioner in the State of Ohio, described his first visit to Nigeria as a great learning opportunity and urged INEC to keep improving on Nigeria’s electoral system.

“I lead a delegation of high level election experts from around the region, as well as from the United States.
“These are delegations who share with you the common belief that the people of Nigeria deserve to continue to have free, fair, and acceptable elections, so we are working to prepare for the presidential election in 2023.

“We took the opportunity to visit Osun because that was only the second time election has been conducted under the new Electoral Law. We met with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun and we observed many different polling locations on Election Day.

“We, however, need to first recognise the continuous improvement that INEC has made to deliver safe elections; and that is something that we were able to see first-hand,’’ LaRose said.