By John Ikani
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has ordered all universities across the country to close down with a view to allowing students take part in the upcoming general elections.
The directive was given by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu and communicated to vice-chancellors of all universities, and directors of inter-university centres via a letter from the NUC.
According to the letter, “Academic activities will be suspended from February 22 to March 14, allowing students to actively participate in the polls.”
The NUC letter stated that “the decision was made following extensive consultations with relevant security agencies and concerns about the safety of students, staff and university properties.”
The 2023 General Elections have been scheduled for February 25 for the Presidential and National Assembly and March 11 for the Gubernatorial and State Assembly.
INEC had earlier presented a voter’s register containing 93,469,008 voters.
Out of the total registered voters, 44,414,846 are female, 49,054,162 are male, and 37,060,399 are young people between the ages of 18 and 34, representing 39.65% of the total registered voters.
The elderly between the ages of 50 and 69 represent 18.94% of the registered voters.
