"We are ready for the General Election".-INEC
Yakubu said this in an interview on Osasu Show posted on the show ’ s You Tube Channel .
He said , “ I cannot see any possibility of a postponement . We started this a long time ago ; we have gone ahead with preparations . INEC is not even contemplating the possibility of a postponement . ”
He said the commission had contacted the National Youth Service Corps to release corps members for elections .
Yakubu added , “ We are liaising with the NYSC for ad hoc workers to be used for the elections , and where there are shortfalls , the commission has a very clear policy: we will make up the difference by using students of federal tertiary institutions .
“ Unless the number is exhausted and there is still a shortfall , we will then go to the state tertiary institutions . ”
He said the commission had replaced over 62, 000 ballot boxes , which were either damaged or destroyed .
Yakubu also said the electoral body had procured an additional 200, 000 ballot boxes for the presidential election .
He said , “ We needed to replace 27, 000 smart card readers after the stress tests on the ones used in the 2015 general elections . We have changed the batteries, the SIM cards and the memory cards. ”
Yakubu said the introduction of technology had made it impossible for any party to win an election by a wide margin .
He said the Permanent Voter Cards and the smart card readers had been able to tackle ballot rigging , hence the Ekiti and Osun governorship polls last year were tightly contested.
The INEC boss said , “ Between 2015 and November 2018, we conducted elections in 195 constituencies, the largest number of offseason elections .
“ The turnout varied from a little over 50 per cent in Katsina to as low as 2. 9 per cent in Ifako/Ijaye in Lagos and 3. 4 per cent in Eti Osa state constituency in Lagos .
Powered b Ne
“ I think because elections in Nigeria have progressively and incrementally improved , there is no possibility now that you will have the kind of margins that we used to experience in our elections before the introduction of technology , basically the PVC and the smart card reader .
“ The elections in terms of outcomes and votes are becoming more international . You can see the outcomes of the elections are becoming more and more competitive and closer to the kind of results we see even in advanced democracies. ”
Yakubu said the commission was ready for the general elections .
He said , “ I cannot see any possibility of a postponement . We started this a long time ago ; we have gone ahead with preparations . INEC is not even contemplating the possibility of a postponement . ”
He said the commission had contacted the National Youth Service Corps to release corps members for elections .
Yakubu added , “ We are liaising with the NYSC for ad hoc workers to be used for the elections , and where there are shortfalls , the commission has a very clear policy: we will make up the difference by using students of federal tertiary institutions .
“ Unless the number is exhausted and there is still a shortfall , we will then go to the state tertiary institutions . ”
He said the commission had replaced over 62, 000 ballot boxes , which were either damaged or destroyed .
Yakubu also said the electoral body had procured an additional 200, 000 ballot boxes for the presidential election .
He said , “ We needed to replace 27, 000 smart card readers after the stress tests on the ones used in the 2015 general elections . We have changed the batteries, the SIM cards and the memory cards. ”
Yakubu said the introduction of technology had made it impossible for any party to win an election by a wide margin .
He said the Permanent Voter Cards and the smart card readers had been able to tackle ballot rigging , hence the Ekiti and Osun governorship polls last year were tightly contested.
The INEC boss said , “ Between 2015 and November 2018, we conducted elections in 195 constituencies, the largest number of offseason elections .
“ The turnout varied from a little over 50 per cent in Katsina to as low as 2. 9 per cent in Ifako/Ijaye in Lagos and 3. 4 per cent in Eti Osa state constituency in Lagos .
Powered b Ne
“ I think because elections in Nigeria have progressively and incrementally improved , there is no possibility now that you will have the kind of margins that we used to experience in our elections before the introduction of technology , basically the PVC and the smart card reader .
“ The elections in terms of outcomes and votes are becoming more international . You can see the outcomes of the elections are becoming more and more competitive and closer to the kind of results we see even in advanced democracies. ”
Yakubu said the commission was ready for the general elections .
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