The Independent National Electoral Commission,( INEC) has postponed the 2023 gubernatorial election slated for Saturday, March 11, 2023 t...
The Independent National Electoral Commission,( INEC) has postponed the 2023 gubernatorial election slated for Saturday, March 11, 2023 to March 18, 2023.
The postponement it was gathered was due to the fact that INEC is yet to reconfigure the Bimodal Verification System (BVAS) which has caused contest from various political parties contesting in the election to access the system particularly PDP, LP and the winning party, APC.
It will be recalled that the Supreme Court of Nigeria had earlier today given directives to the Commission to reconfigure the BVAS, in preparation for the governorship and house of Assembly elections.
The statement was titled: Resheduling of Governorship and State Assembly Elections and signed by Barr. Festus Okoye , the National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Educaton Committee .
It stated: Following today’s ruling by the Presidental Election Petton Tnbunal (EPT) on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the Presidential election held on 25th February 2023. the Commission met to assess its impact on the Commission's preparabons for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, 11th March 2023.
Nigerians would recall that on 3rd March 2023, the Presidential EPT had given an exparte order for some political parties to inspect materials used for the Presidental electon, including the forensic inspecbon of over 176,000 BVAS used in the electon whych 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 elecbons and that the lack of a clearly defined timeframe for the inspection could dsrupt the Commussion’s ability to conduct the outstanding elections.
For instance, the BVAS can only be activated on the specific date and time of an election. Having been used for the Presidental and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023, it is necessary to reconfigure the BVAS for actvation on the date of the Govemorship and State Assembly elections.
While the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparaton of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, it has come far too late for the reconfiguraton to be concluded. Consequently, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the Governorshp and State Assembly elections which wil now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023.
By ths decision, campaigns wil continue until midnight of Thursday 16th March 2023 i.e. 24 hours before the new date for the election.
This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate tme to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.
This has been the practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using the Smart Card Readers.
However, we wish to reiterate that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials. Consequently, it will continue to grant all litigants access to the matenals they require to pursue their cases in court.
We wish to reassure all politcal parties and candidates that the data from the Presidential and Natonal Assembly electons will be backed up and available in INEC Cloud facilities, including the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV). Political parties can apply for Certified True Copies of the backend data of the BVAS. Also, the results on the BVAS will continue to be available on the IReV for interested parties to access.
We thank Nigerians and friends of Nigeria for their understanding as we continue to deal with these difficult issues and navigates these challenging times.
Signed: Barr. Festus Okoye
National Commissioner & Chairman
Information and Voter Educaton Committee
Wednesday 8 March 2023
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