The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it may move sensitive election materials from the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the second quarterly meeting with the media.
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Responding to a question on the political ambition and partisanship of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Yakubu said the commission might be forced to find another arrangement for the handling of sensitive materials.
According to him, the CBN is responsible for the storage and movement of sensitive materials, and that the commission has never doubted the capacity of the CBN to discharge that responsibility.
“I understand the context in which the question is asked. But you should also understand the context in which events are unfolding. As we speak our director, litigation and prosecution is in court.”
“There is a case in court. We have been invited to state our own side of the story. We usually refrain from talking about such issues because there are essentially subjudice. But we are already started talking about what alternatives are available to us in case we need to change the arrangement for the handling of sensitive materials.
“We have started thinking about it. We are aware of the situation. We will watch the situation. We still have 9 months before the next general elections. Things may be addressed out before then.
“I want to assure you that we will not jeopardize the conduct of the election by creating a misconception around the situation in the process,” Yakubu said.
He also said that the commission would employ both the manual and electronic methods in the transmission of the 2023 elections results.
According to him, the provision of the electoral Act 2022 in the management of results is still basically manual involving the recording of results on forms and their delivery to various levels of collation until declaration and returns are made.
