Breaking: INEC Postpones Governorship, State Assembly Elections by one week

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed next Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections till March 18, 2023.

INEC’s decision is coming about three days before the March 11 date earlier scheduled for the state elections.

The Commission said it was shifting the election due to logistics crisis stemming from BVAS configuration and transportation.

Political observers however believe that this might not be unconnected to the inability of the commission to promptly commence the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines utilized during the February 25 presidential election, and enable them for use in the state elections.

INEC said the election could not hold again as scheduled following a meeting of its executives on Wednesday evening.

“The elections were postponed to allow one more week for preparations,” an official familiar with the meeting told Peoples Gazette by telephone on Wednesday night. “We should be able to get everything in order before March 18.”

INEC was earlier restrained from tampering with the information embedded in the BVAS machines until due inspection was conducted and Certified True Copies (CTC) issued to candidates who are challenging the outcome of the presidential election.

Efforts to get reaction of Festus Okoye, spokesperson for the commission, proved abortive as his phone was unreachable.

More details later….