Why 2023 Polls Will Be The Best — Ahmad Lawan

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has disclosed why he thinks the 2023 polls will be the best that Nigeria has ever had.

Lawan made the comment on Tuesday when he received a delegation of the European Union election observers and former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga who paid separate courtesy visits.

While expressing confidence in the forthcoming general elections, he stated that it would be the best because the National Assembly has worked hard to produce a good document to guide the electoral environment in the country.

“The general elections this year will be probably the best.

"This is because we worked so hard in the National Assembly to produce a very good document to guide the electoral environment in Nigeria.

“The amendment to the Electoral Act was signed into law by Mr President last year and the INEC has been given ample opportunity and a great deal of latitude to introduce technology in the elections.

“The introduction of BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System), I think will go a long way in ensuring that election fraud, manipulations are reduced to the barest minimum.

“We believe that has been one of the serious issues that bedevilled our elections previously.

“The thing that motivates us more is what we have been able to give to INEC. I think INEC is a princely institution.

"We have always prioritised INEC. We believe that INEC shouldn’t be in want.

"Where INEC makes a request, we believe we should always give INEC what our country can afford.

“Where we are able to give everything, we should do so.

"If we have to meet INEC halfway, we must have a strong reason to do so. This is because we don’t want any excuse from INEC.

“We want INEC to perform very well. We want the elections in 2023 to be very credible and very transparent and with the introduction of BVAS, we believe we can achieve that feat.

“Your (EU) statement in 2019 was very helpful. We believe that the stability of Nigeria is the stability of Africa and indeed, the stability of the world.

"And what you are doing is not only to stabilize our political or electoral process but to ensure that other countries copy from us", Lawan said.