The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pledged that the glitches experienced during the February 25 elections will not be repeated in the upcoming governorship elections across the country on Saturday. INEC emphasized that election materials will arrive at polling units well in advance, ensuring that all stations open on time.
Speaking on Arise TV on Friday, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the commission has learned valuable lessons from the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections. He noted that controversy had surrounded the delayed uploading of results during the presidential vote, with major opposition parties such as the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party using this as a basis for rejecting the outcome that declared All Progressives Congress candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu the winner.
“The commission is determined to improve on its previous performance,” Okoye asserted. “We have learned valuable lessons from past elections and will incorporate them into our planning, processes, and deployment.” He explained that for the current state assembly and governorship elections, both the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and all sensitive election materials have already left the Central Bank and the various state offices.
To ensure optimal performance, INEC has reconfigured the BVAS units for this election and addressed challenges encountered previously. The commission also provided refresher training to all categories of staff involved in the voting process. With 28 governorship elections and 993 state assembly constituency elections scheduled, Okoye stressed that “it’s a huge election and INEC will be paying very close attention to what is going on in the various states.”
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