Two weeks after Yakubu on February 7 met with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to address the need for cash for logistical operations in the conduct of the elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has taken possession of a “substantial part” of the cash it requested of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid the naira scarcity.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, confirmed receipt of the funds on Thursday during a press conference in Abuja.
“The bulk of the small amount of cash that we have requested from the Central Bank of Nigeria is right now being released to the commission’s offices nationwide,” he said.
“In fact, a substantial part of it has already been received by our offices nationwide and this has greatly facilitated the movement of sensitive materials yesterday from the branches of the Central Bank to our local government areas.
“By tomorrow, we’ll batch them and then move them on Friday to the registration area centres. And then on Saturday early morning, they’ll be moved to the polling units for voting.”
He also addressed security concerns surrounding the polls assuring stakeholders of a conducive environment for the electoral process to take place.
It will be recalled that the INEC boss in December 2022, noted that the commission had suffered 50 attacks in 15 states since 2019.
He said the security agencies are on ground for the elections to provide adequate protection for voters, staff and observers.
“I am pleased that we have fully recovered from these attacks and we have been further assured that our facilities, staff, voters, observers, the media, and citizens will be safe during the election,” he said.
On vote-buying, Yakubu expressed conviction that INEC’s joint operations with other agencies before and on election day would “vastly reduce” the prospect of voter inducement which he described as not only illegal but also immoral.
