At Chatham House, Yakubu expresses INEC readiness and says the presidential run-off is a possibility

The electoral chief stated that, despite attacks on its offices across the country, the commission is not considering postponing the presidential election.

After voters submit their ballots for their favourite candidates on February 25, 2023, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu says a presidential run-off is conceivable.

In case there is a tie in the presidential vote for Aso Rock next month, the electoral boss said INEC is ready to manage a runoff.

Yakubu made this statement on Tuesday while speaking about the intentions of Nigeria’s highest electoral authority for the upcoming general elections at a discussion hosted by Chatham House, a renowned policy organisation and think tank in the United Kingdom.

In each of the previous three elections, he claimed, INEC had been ready for the prospect of a run-off, and this year’s presidential election will be no different. He further stated that despite threats against its offices across the country, the commission is not considering postponing the presidential election.

During his speech at the international think tank forum, he informed attendees, “The truth is that the commission prepares for every general election; at least for some time now, in the last three electoral cycles, we also planned for that possibility.”

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“The reason is that, prior to the constitution’s amendment, the presidential run-off period was only one week long.” With the number of registered voters we have, printing the necessary ballot papers, delivering them to polling places, and conducting the necessary elections is nearly impossible.

“To prepare for the possibility of a presidential run-off, we have included provisions for it in every election for the last three electoral cycles.””We won’t have any problems if it does, and this year won’t be any different,” Yakubu added.

With the constitutional modification, according to Yakubu, INEC now has three weeks between the date of the presidential election and the run-off election.

“Thank goodness, the deadline was also extended.” It has been extended for two more weeks by the first amendment to the constitution.

“As a result, we now have three weeks instead of the previous one.” We always prepare for that scenario, just in case. We don’t know; the decision is up to the voters, but if it does, we won’t be caught off guard.

According to Section 134 of the Nigerian Constitution, a presidential candidate can only be declared the victor if he or she receives at least 25% of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as well as the majority of the votes cast overall.

According to subsection 3 of the same section, if a candidate is not properly elected according to subsection 2 of this section, there must be a second election.