By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
Ahead of the Saturday, November 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo States, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has resolved to conduct a mock accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in the three states.
The test run of the exercise will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30am to 2.30pm.
This was confirmed in a statement on Monday by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman,
Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Sam Olumekun.
A maximum of three polling units in each Senatorial District, according to the statement, have been identified across each of the three States, covering a total of nine Senatorial District and 27 polling units.
The Commission explained that lessons learnt from the exercise will be taken into consideration in ensuring a seamless process on election day.
The statement by Olumekun reads, “The Commission met today (yesterday) Monday 25th September 2023 and, among other issues, reviewed the preparations for the forthcoming off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled for Saturday 11th November 2023.
“As was the case in recent off-cycle Governorship elections, the Commission will conduct a mock accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“The test run will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30am to 2.30pm.
“A maximum of three polling units in each Senatorial District have been identified across each of the three States, covering a total of nine Senatorial District and 27 polling units. “Lessons learnt from the exercise will be taken into consideration in ensuring a seamless process on Election Day.
“Full details of the polling units, including their locations by Local Government Area (LGA), Registration Area (RA)/Ward, Delimitation Code and number of registered voters have been uploaded to our website and social media platforms.
“The Commission appeals to registered voters in the selected polling units to turn up with their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for the exercise.
“The public is advised that this is strictly a test accreditation exercise and not the actual election”, it concluded.
