Why INEC can’t stop registration of political parties — Prof. Yakubu

it's difficult to comment on that until the technical experts look at what they have. So, we are in touch with NASENI and we are talking to them.

Aren't you going to factor it into the coming elections?

Let's wait for the technical team to finish their work. But we have already issued the timetable and schedule of activities for the upcoming elections.

Is there a timeline for the technical committee?

Yes, there should be. Actually, they should have finished their meeting. I need to call the Director, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to find out so that we see where we go from there. But they contacted us. They came and demonstrated. Issues were raised and we decided to set up that technical committee to look into what they have invented.

Does it have the capacity for mass production?

These are questions that the technical team would answer. Is it designed? Is it fabricated? Questions will be asked in many areas. If they invent, can we have the number that we require to go round all the polling units? The issues of staff we will train and voter education that we need so that voters can use the machine. Can the machine accommodate the number of political parties we have? So, there are a number of questions. These are not questions we can answer. That is why we raise that technical team to look at it.

In fact, we also included the Director of Voter Education and Publicity as well as the Director of Legal Services because we have to look at whatever they are proposing in relation to our responsibilities under the Act. So, we are working on an extensive thing. We welcome new innovations and new inventions. But we will see where we go when the technical team submits their report.

In 2015, we had this excuse on the need to clear Sambisa Forest six weeks before the conduct of the election. Have you been able to highlight some of the concerns or challenges you have ahead of 2019 and present them to the security agencies?

We have been discussing with the security agencies. As I said earlier, we have the interagency consultative committee on election security. The police are the lead agency. But all the security agencies are also members. And we have been meeting. Part of what we have done deliberately with all the major elections we have conducted so far is to release the timetable and schedule of activities well in advance. We had nine months to prepare for the Anambra election. We had seven or eight months to prepare for Edo and Ondo governorship elections. We released the timetable for Ekiti and Osun last year. Ekiti is coming up on the 14th of July. Osun is coming up on the 22nd of September.

We have fixed a date for the general elections in 2019 and it’s going to be in February next year. And we have already released the timetable and schedule of activities. The idea is that we can continue to work with the security agencies well in advance. Whatever the issues are, let us address them now. There is time for us to plan. As far as we are concerned, we have discussed with the security agencies. And I believe we are on the same page.

When you said you are on the same page, does it mean that you agree that there will be no challenges?

There would always be challenges. But the idea is that if you have a long time to prepare, then you can anticipate and address those challenges. For instance, this week, we have written to all the examination bodies - WAEC, NECO, NABTEC and JAMB. And I spoke with the Registrar, WAEC International, in Ghana because I saw a report last week that they had scheduled the GCE O' level for private candidates for February and March this year. If that happens, it coincides with the elections. I called him and we agreed that there will be no exams at that time next year. It is the same thing with JAMB and other examination bodies.

These are some of the potential areas for challenges. If it is national exams, you can adjust. But with international exams, it is difficult to adjust. So, we have been proactive and we would continue to engage all stakeholders in their respects, including the media and the civil society organisations, believing that we are on course with the elections on the dates as picked.

We are so excited because it's exactly 401 days today (Wednesday) to the opening of polling units at 8am Lagos time on February 16. We are actually in election

mood.