We have begun preparations for 2023 elections, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday says the commission has started preparation for the 2023 general elections in the country.

The commission also attributed the level of credibility recorded in the 2019 general elections to the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in monitoring and preventing vote buying.

The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mutiu Agboke, made the remark in Ibadan, during a thank-you visit to the Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC.

He said: “The commission is going to start the process of Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) very soon. Those who were unable to register will register.”

“Those whose cards are still in our custody will be able to come and collect their PVCs. As I speak, we have over 700,000 PVCs uncollected,” he said.

Agboke also specially thanked the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, for agreeing to work with the electoral body to help discharge its duties to the satisfaction of most Nigerians.

“The mandate given us was that we should collaborate and interface with all the agencies of government to deliver acceptable elections.

“I know at the national level, your chairman too was also interfacing with my chairman (Prof. Mahmud Yakubu) and that was what was responsible for the successes we recorded,” Agboke noted.

In his welcome address presented on behalf of the EFCC acting Chairman, the Commission’s Ibadan Zonal Head, Friday Ebelo, appreciated staff of the electoral body ‘for putting Nigeria first’ in the discharge of their constitutional duties.

According to him, all public servants should make such commitment their watchword in order to end well in their chosen careers.

“I always tell my people that as the head of an agency of government or leader of a people, you must always remember that you have a name to protect. That should be the motivation for you to stand your ground at all times.

“If you want to be compromised, you can be compromised. But if you can remember that you have a name to protect and you have a tomorrow ahead of you, you will guide against being compromised. That is the kind of commitment I saw in you and your team during the 2019 elections when I was working with you,” Ebelo noted.

He told the INEC team that the EFCC’s door is always open to offer any assistance within its powers to help further sanitise the country’s electoral processes.