2023: INEC considering political parties’ request to extend timetable – Yakubu

By our reporter| The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said the request by political parties for the extension of the 2023 general elections timetable is being considered.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure at the headquarters of the electoral umpire in Abuja during a meeting with leaders of political parties under the auspices of 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 said, was tight for the political parties.

Some of the political parties represented at the meeting were the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), among others.

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.

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.