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The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has assured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that President Bola Tinubu had no intention to interfere in the off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo States.
The electoral body is ramping up preparations for governorship elections in the three states on Saturday, November 11, 2023, and fears have grown over a possible interference by the presidency, given the involvement of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the contest.
But Ribadu has assured the commission and Nigerians that Tinubu is committed to credible elections in the country and would provide the necessary support for INEC to deliver free and fair contests.
The NSA made this known while speaking at a meeting with the INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu along with the commission’s national commissioners and other members of the inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.
“This election will be better than any previous ones. It will be without violence, it will be free and fair, and there will be no interferences,” Ribadu told the gathering.
The meeting, held at the NSA office in Abuja on Friday, October 27, 2023, is part of the consultative forum by the commission ahead of the upcoming governorship elections in the three states.
In one of its previous meetings with political parties, INEC had raised security concerns. Mahmood also reiterated at the Friday meeting that the security of voters, critical election materials, and the protection of collation centres remain major concerns.
He appealed to security officials to deal decisively with anyone caught perpetrating violence on election day.