The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed the postponement of the governorship and states houses of assembly elections scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 11, by one week.
There had earlier been some rumour and media reports that the commission was considering postponing the election and would make a decision at a meeting of the national commissioners on Wednesday night
The shift in date is due to the ruling by the tribunal on Wednesday which allows INEC to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the governorship and state assembly elections, a pronouncement the commission said came too late for Saturday’s election
This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday night by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, who said the elections will now hold on Saturday, March 18.
Okoye in the statement said that INEC met to assess the impact of the ruling of the tribunal on the reconfiguration of BVAS on the commission’s preparations for the governorship and state houses of assembly election scheduled for Saturday, March 11, 2023, and took the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the elections.
INEC also noted that by its decision to postpone the elections, campaigns will continue until midnight of Thursday, March 16, 2023, which is 24 hours before the new date for the election.
What INEC is saying
The statement from INEC reads, “Following today’s ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System 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, 11th March 2023.
“Nigerians would recall that on 3rd March 2023, the Presidential EPT 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 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.
“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.
“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 the Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th 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.”
The decision not taken lightly but is necessary
Okoye said, “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.”
INEC to grant access to litigants to inspect materials
The Commission’s Spokesman added, “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.
“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.’’
This is expected