The National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee of the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC), Festus Okoye, has said the commission is under pressure to deliver free, fair and credible elections in 2023. He stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today at the weekend. According to Okoye, “Yes, we are under pressure from the Nigerian people to deliver a credible, fair and transparent election in 2023, and that’s the only pressure I know about.”
Okoye however, assured Nigerians that the commission will deliver a credible 2023 general election that will meet all internationally acclaimed standards. He dismissed recent call for the sacking of the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, adding that the process for the removal of INEC chairman is also rigorous.
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“Let me make this point. The position of the INEC chairman is a very serious position and it is a constitutionally protected position. The process for the appointment of INEC chairman is a very rigorous process. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes nomination, then, it goes to the council of state.
“Thereafter he goes to the National Assembly for possible confirmation. Now the process and the procedure, the mechanism for the removal of INEC chairman is also a very rigorous process. First there must be an allegation and that allegation must conform to the provision of constitution.
“Thereafter the allegation must be taken to the president and the president now approaches the National Assembly asking the Senate in this instance to remove the electoral management body,” he said.