2023: Presidency says no plan to replace INEC chief

The office of President Muhammadu Buhari said there are no plans to replace the INEC chief or stop the use of the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) in the 2023 general elections.

This was disclosed in a statement by a media aide to the President, Femi Adesina, assuring Nigerians that the elections will go on as planned.

He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari acknowledges and is committed to the role technology plays in elections.

The president’s assurance: Speaking at the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI) in Abuja on Tuesday, he said:

• “Recently, there was one group that said the chairman of INEC was going to be removed because maybe they didn’t want BVAS. How many times has the president spoken about the role of technology in getting him into office?
• “He has spoken about it locally and internationally that three times he contested, three times he ended at the Supreme Court because the government of the day would just write results.
• “Technology came and there are permanent voter cards, so it is difficult to write results. So, how and why can the same person have issues with BVAS? I saw that group on television, alleging that there was a plan to remove the INEC chairman and the media gave them that opportunity.
• “Such things should be treated with contradictions because they don’t make sense, at least not under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Adesina noted that Buhari has always expressed his commitment to credible elections. He also noted that the media, the electoral management body, and other stakeholders have critical roles to play in achieving that.

Meanwhile, some PVCs are not ready: Recall that Nairametrics reported last week that The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that it is yet to print the permanent voter cards (PVC) of eligible voters who took part in the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise from January 15 to July 31, 2022.

INEC explained that the reason the cards are yet to be printed is that INEC has not finished cleaning up the voters’ register.