INEC - Presidential Election Results Will Be Ready By Wednesday, Says Prof. Yakubu

Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has informed Nigerians that the commission was working to ensure that it does not keep the masses waiting for days without declaring the results, saying the time limit would not exceed what was obtained in 2015.

Prof. Yakubu mentioned this while addressing journalists on Wednesday 20th February, 2019 in Abuja on the commission's preparedness for the election on Saturday.

In 2015, while the presidential election held on a Saturday, a winner was not declared until the following Wednesday.

The INEC Chairman said ''Even though this time around we have more presidential candidates than in 2015, we have more registered voters than we had in 2015, the size of the result sheet is bigger than we had in 2015, but we are committed to concluding the process for the Presidential elections roughly about the same time that we concluded the 2015 general elections.

''We will do whatever we can to ensure that we speedily conclude the process but we won't sacrifice accuracy for speed.''

The INEC boss also stated that the fate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State was already sealed by the Supreme Court, adding that there has to be an end to litigation. According to him, the commission would always respect court orders but not when the apex court of the land has taken a final decision on the same matter.

''I think the Supreme Court has made a number of pronouncements on that matter and for that reason, the commission has taken a position going by that judgement. Under our constitution, the Supreme Court is the last court of resort for anyone and there must be an end to litigation as lawyers say.

''When the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement, all persons and authorities in the Federal Republic of Nigeria are bound by the decision and so the commission as a law abiding institution will abide by the judgement.

''There is nowhere else to go. We go by the judgement. When the apex court has spoken, that is the end of the road for all litigations'', he said.

On the PVC collection rate, the INEC Chairman said information in that regard has also been made available, the number of PVC collections in each states, numbers of uncollected PVC's and total numbers of registered voters. These details are made available for Nigerians to be aware.