INEC sets new date for Governorship and State Assembly elections after Tribunal ruling on BVAS

THUR. 09 MARCH 2023-theGBJournal | The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) late last night set Saturday 18^th March 2023 as new date for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

The Commission said the decision follows 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 25^th February 2023.

‘’This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25^th February 2023 and then to configure them for Governorship and State Assembly elections,’’ INEC said in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.

The Commission said that this has been the ‘’practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using the Smart Card Readers.’’

Recall that the Presidential EPT on March 3, 2023, 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 then 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.

‘’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 has come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded,’’ the Commission said while announcing the new date.

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