2023 Elections: INEC considering political parties’ request to extend timetable, says Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is considering the request by political parties to extend the 2023 General Elections Timetable.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, stated this on Friday at the headquarters of the electoral umpire in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

He spoke shortly after receiving a request by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) for the adjustment of the timetable for the forthcoming polls.

The Chairman of IPAC, Sani Yabagi, made the request known again to INEC on behalf of other leaders and representatives of political parties at the meeting.

Yabagi, who also serves as the National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), explained that adjusting the timetable of the election became necessary because of the current timetable which he was tight for the political parties.

At a previous meeting with INEC held two weeks ago, the political parties had appealed to the electoral umpire to extend the timelines for the 2023 general elections by two months.

Specifically, they requested slight changes to the timeline for political parties to conduct their primaries, as stipulated by INEC.

Yabagi, while addressing the meeting at the time, explained that extending the timelines would help the political parties put things in order for the forthcoming general elections.

But the INEC chief had informed the party leaders that the commission would not review the existing timelines and appealed that the primaries be conducted credibly in order to minimise litigations.

While reminding them of the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun, he called on all the parties to comply with the provisions in the Electoral Act.