INEC Explains Why Governorship, State Assembly Election Was Postponed | READ HERE
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday night announced that the earlier scheduled March 11 governorship and State House of Assembly election have been postponed till March 18, 2023.
A statement signed by Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, said the Commission resolved to make an adjustment in the election date to give it enough room for the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which the court had already given approval for.
According to Okoye, the court order came late as the Commission had not enough time to reconfigure the BVAS before March 11, therefore, a new date had to be fixed.
“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
“For instance, the BVAS can only be activated on the specific date and time of an election.
“Having been used for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023, it is necessary to reconfigure the BVAS for activation on the date of the governorship and State Assembly elections,” the statement read in part.
The statement further explained that the postponement was also necessary to enable INEC backup the data stored on over 176,000 BVAS machine from the presidential and National Assembly elections.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW: