The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has revealed that three million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) will participate in the 2023 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this statement during a stakeholders’ meeting on the 2022 Revised Framework and Regulations for Voting by IDPs in Abuja.
According to the INEC boss, the policy is to ensure that no eligible Nigerian is left out of the electoral process on account of displacement, disability or other circumstances that may limit citizens’ participation in the electoral process.
Yakubu stated that the revised framework has taken into consideration several developments since the last review and validation in 2018.
He explained that one of the developments is to align the framework with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically Section 24(1) which empowers the Commission to ensure that, as far as practicable, no Nigerian is disenfranchised on account of displacement by emergencies.
Yakubu also stressed on the need for robust collaboration with stakeholders for voter education and sensitisation of IDPs.
He further explained that INEC has not fixed a date for the activity in question, adding that the commission will do the needful when it is time.
Meanwhile, Yakubu has assured that the commission will display voter registers across the country once it completes the ongoing Automated Biometric Identification System to weed out all double/multiple as well as ineligible registrants
Share this
