BREAKING: INEC POSTPONES THE MARCH 11 GUBER AND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

REPORTER: OGOCHUKWU OKORONKWO

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the Governorship and State Assembly elections from 11th to 18 of this month.

A statement signed by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, says the postponement followed Wednesday’s ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the Presidential election held on 25th of last month.

“Nigerians would recall that on 3rd March 2023, the Presidential EPT had given an ex-parte order for some political parties to inspect materials used for the Presidential election, including the forensic inspection of over 176,000 BVAS used in the election which are located in INEC LGA offices across the country.

“The Commission approached the Tribunal to reconsider the order, given that the BVAS Systems were to be deployed for the Governorship and State Assembly elections and that the lack of a clearly defined timeframe for the inspection could disrupt the Commission’s ability to conduct the outstanding elections,” it said.

It further explains that, while the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, it came far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.

“It is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th of last month and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. This has been the practice for all elections,” the statement observed.

It however, reiterated that the Commission would continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they required to pursue their cases in court.

It also reassured all political parties and candidates that the data from the Presidential and National Assembly elections would be backed up and available in INEC cloud facilities, including the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

It pointed out that political parties could apply for Certified True Copies (CTC) of the backend data of the BVAS and the results on the BVAS would continue to be available on the IReV for interested parties to access.

It directed the political Parties to continue with campaigns until midnight of Thursday 16th of this month, that is 24 hours before the new date for the election.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU