The director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari, has promised that the general elections will be held in 2023 as scheduled, despite the ongoing social problems in the country.
He gave this assurance while receiving a delegation from YIAGA Africa, led by the Director of Programmes, Barr. Cynthia Mbamalu on a working visit, stressing that it is in the larger interest of all Nigerians for the elections to hold as planned.
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Abari noted that with the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), the issue of migration of Polling Units becomes a serious and trending issue requiring urgent and robust sensitization across the country.
He said only proper synergy between government and civil society will suffice community-based sensitization of voters in their respective local dialects to ensure they can easily identify their Polling Units ahead of the elections and avoid disenfranchisement.
Earlier, Mbamalu and the YIAGA team intimated to the NOA Director General of their election sensitization and monitoring programmes, including the Election Results Analysis Dashboard (ERAD), the Election Manipulation Risk Index (EMRI) and Watching the Vote which will be deploying about 3014 observers on Election Day.
She, however, noted the need for a massive national campaign to help the electorate locate and confirm their Polling Units and requested NOA’s intervention with the translation of Polling Unit sensitization materials into local languages.
