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The Independent National Electoral Commission has expressed hope that its cash request presented to the Central Bank of Nigeria would be met on or before Tuesday.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, disclosed this to our correspondent on Sunday.

The commission had earlier said it presented its cash requirement for prosecuting the forthcoming elections to the CBN, in face of shortage or scarcity of naira notes in circulation.

The commission had explained that even though it does most of its payments through online transfers, some specific services have to be paid for in cash.

When asked on Sunday when INEC expected to get the requested cash from the CBN, Okoye said, “We are hopeful that the challenge of physical cash required for the payment of certain categories of staff and some services will be sorted out on or before Tuesday, the 21st of February 2023.”

When asked if the ongoing riots fuelled by cash scarcity might affect the voters’ turnout on election days, Okoye said he was positive that the challenges bedeviling the country would not discourage registered voters from exercising their franchise

The question of maintaining law and order is outside the remit of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Section 215(3) of the Constitution gives the Nigerian Police Force the responsibility of maintaining and securing of public safety and public order.

The commission does not have its own security arm and cannot deploy security operatives to the streets.

“The commission has done its best to boost voters’ confidence in the electoral process. The commission converted voting points and voting point settlements into full-fledged polling units and took some closer to the voters.

“The commission keeps improving with every election. Nigerians are looking forward to the 2023 elections and they are ready to exercise their franchise.

“We are hopeful that the difficulties the nation is experiencing will not deter legally registered voters from showing up on election day. We want Nigerians to complement the preparations and efforts made by the commission by coming out to vote on election day.”