As Nigerians troop out to elect the president and national assembly lawmakers today, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that election results will e announced without further ado.
The chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the promise at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday.
“I just want to say that we will ensure that it (result declaration) will be done speedily.
“I can’t put a finger on the number of days or number of hours it will take, but it will be done speedily.
“We are aware of the anxiety and the need for us to conclude the process quickly. It will be concluded quickly,” he said.
The chairman also assured that the process will not suffer any encumbrance due to the recent cash crisis triggered by the recent naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“It is not all our operations that are paid for by cash.
“In fact, the bulk of our procurement for both goods and services is done electronically.
“But we need a small amount of money to pay for the unbanked who render critical services, particularly at the local level.
“We anticipated this challenge and interacted with the Central Bank; they promised us that the little amount we need to pay for services in cash, they will make the funds available to us and they have done so.
“And these funds have already been accessed by our state offices for elections, which is why the movement of personnel and materials in the last couple of days has gone on unhindered.
“So, I must give credit for our relationship with the Central Bank in that regard.
“The process won’t suffer any encumbrance as a result,” he added.
Yakubu also reiterated the commission’s stance on the use of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) in the elections and insisted on the ‘No PVC, No Voting’ rule.
He also said he ban on the use of mobile phones in voting cubicles was still in place.
