Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has promised that all necessary amendments to the Electoral Act will be completed before the 2027 elections.
He revealed this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Monday, adding that he was still INEC Chairman to refute reports that he has been removed from office.
Professor Yakubu said the commission and relevant stakeholders had reviewed the 2023 general elections and came up with 142 recommendations, adding that of the number, eight require electoral amendment.
He explained his visit to the State House, saying he was there for the inauguration of two National Commissioners from Southeast and North West, adding that the commission now has a full complement of the commissioners as required by law.
The INEC boss said the commission has been interfacing with the National Assembly, adding that two weeks ago, it had a retreat in Lagos with the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on electoral reform.
“Thereafter, the National Assembly is going to organize a public hearing, and it’s after the public hearing that now a new bill will, at the end of the day, be submitted to the President for assent,” he said.
“So, we’re working with the National Assembly on electoral reform, but at this point, I’m not going to give you any more details. You will hear from the National Assembly whose responsibility it is, but we reviewed the 2023 general elections on our own.
“We engaged with the stakeholders. We came up with 142 recommendations out of this 142 recommendations, eight require constitutional or Electoral Act amendment, and we discussed this with members of the National Assembly.
“So far so good, we are happy with our discussions with them, and we are also happy with the speed with which they want to proceed so that we’ll have some necessary amendments done to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections.”
