The Independent National Electoral Commission has postponed the governorship and state assembly elections to March 18, 2023.
The elections were earlier scheduled on Saturday, March 11.
INEC in a press release signed by Festus Okoye,
National Commissioner & Chairman Infomation and Voter Education Committee, said that the ruling of the Tribunal on Wednesday which allows the commission to reconfigure its BVAS for the state elections “come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.”
Investogist reported that the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday granted the Independent National Electoral Commission’s request to reconfigure the Bmodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) it used for the presidential election.
In a unanimous decision by the three member panel of Justices, the Court dismissed objections raised by Peter Obi of the Labour Party against INEC’s move to reconfigure all the BVAS, and held that stopping the electoral body from reconfiguring the BVAS would adversely affect the impending Governorship and State Assembly elections.
INEC was ordered by the court to allow the Applicants to inspect and carry out digital forensic examination of all the electoral materials used in the conduct of the elections, as well as to avail them the Certified True Copy, of the result of the physical inspection of the BVAS.
Read more: Court approves INEC’s request to reconfigure BVAS ahead of State Elections
Here is the press release by INEC:
RESCHEDULING OF GOVERNORSHIP AND STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
Following today’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 February 2023, the Commission met to assess its impact on the Commission’s preparations for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, 11h March 2023.
Nigerians would recall that on 3d March 2023, the Presidential EPT had given an exparte 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 disupt the Commission’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 Presidential and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023, it is necessary to reconfigure the BVAS for activation 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 preparation of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, it has come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.
Consequently, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule thee Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18h March 2023.
By this decision, campaigns will 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 time 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 materials they require to pursue their cases in court.
We wish to reassure all political parties and candidates that the data from the Presidential and National Assembly elections 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 Nigeia for their understanding as we continue to deal with these difficult issues and navigate these challenging times.
Barr. Festus Okoye
National Commissioner & Chairman
Infomation and Voter Education Committee
Wednesday 8h March 2023
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
