The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday assured voters and other relevant stakeholders of a credible, transparent election as the electorate prepares for the upcoming governorship polls in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa State.
The state governorship elections are scheduled to be held on November 11, 2023.
The INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, speaking during a media briefing alongside some members of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Wednesday in Abuja, disclosed about 145 organisations had been accredited for the polls.
The organisations, he revealed, would be deploying 7,896 observers.
He further disclosed that in a few days to come, organizations accredited by the commission would be invited to pick up some cards as means of identification for their deployed observers
His words: “Overall, the Commission has accredited 145 organisations deploying 7,896 observers. In the next few days, accredited organisations will be invited to collect the identity cards for their observers.”
On the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which would authenticate voters and upload results on the Result Viewing Portal (IREV), Yakubu informed the devices were already successfully put to the test. He added that the commission has yet to receive any complaints or queries in regards to the mock test conducted.
“As you are aware, the Commission conducted a mock accreditation involving actual voters in designated polling units in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States two weeks ago. By doing so, we tested the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for both biometric authentication of voters and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).”
“Some of you observed the mock accreditation exercise and viewed the results on the IReV portal. We have received no adverse report so far. By this, we are encouraged that the test was successful, and we look forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in the forthcoming Governorship elections and beyond,” he said.
Yakubu reassured the commission would continue to engage relevant stakeholders and security personnel as CSOs express concern over protecting voters against harm and transparency of the electoral process.
“Election is a multi-stakeholder activity. In discharging our responsibilities, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders. One of such engagements is with the security agencies. In previous elections, civil society organisations have expressed concern about the safety of persons involved in elections as well as the protection of the process, including polling units and collation centres”
“Similarly, several times, civil society organisations have urged the Commission to intercede with the security agencies to grant you unimpeded access to voting and collation locations. I want to reassure you that we will continue to do so as we engage with the security agencies at the national level and in the three States. At the same time, I wish to remind all accredited observers to adhere to the code of conduct for election observation strictly,” he assured.
