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ABUJA. – With less than 24 hours to go until Nigeria’s rescheduled presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that everything is in place for the poll to take place this time round.

The vote was supposed to happen last Saturday, but with less than five hours to go until polls were meant to open, INEC postponed the election.

It said that there were logistical problems.

But on Friday morning INEC commissioner Festus Okoye said everything was in place.

He told the BBC, “The only thing that will prevent the election from holding on Saturday is (an) act of God, or something that is beyond human comprehension. In relation to elections we are ready to go. We have put the disappointment of the past behind us.”

More than 72 million Nigerians are expected to vote in the coming general elections in the country, according to the electoral chief on Thursday.

Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of INEC, told reporters in Abuja that a total of 72,775,502 Nigerians had so far collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs) which qualify them to participate in the elections.

The figure, Yakubu said, represents 86.63 percent of the over 84 million registered voters in the most populous African country.

The Commission halted the distribution of voter cards in the country since February 11, ahead of the earlier scheduled polls last Saturday.

On January 7, INEC had said the total number of registered voters in the country stood at 84,004,084 — just 42 percent of Nigeria’s population, which currently stands at about 198 million. They will be voting from 119,973 polling units countrywide.

According to information on INEC’s official website, 91 registered political parties will participate in the election on February 23. – BBC/Xinhua/HR