Lai Mohammed
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on Tuesday said the 2023 elections will be held as planned.
Mohammed said this in Abuja at the 17th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari scorecard series from 2015-2023.
The minister’s assurance came in the wake of killings allegedly perpetrated by the Eastern Security Network, the militant arm of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra and banditry in the North-West.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, over 41 attacks had been carried out against its offices across 14 states since the 2019 general election, with the South-East recording 13 attacks.
The attacks which started in Abia on May 9, 2021, spread to Enugu and Ebonyi, with three incidents each; Imo, with two attacks; Anambra and Abia with one each and in Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states.
Recall that INEC yesterday raised the alarm over the rising security situation across the country and its impact on the 2023 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who spoke at the validation of election security training resources in Abuja noted that the forthcoming election faces serious threat of cancellation should the insecurity across the country fail to improve.
Yakubu, represented by the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, explained that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately lead to the postponement and cancellation of the 2023 general elections