The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the governorship and state house of assembly election previously scheduled for March 11, to March 18, following the decision of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, granting the Commission permission to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, for the election.
The Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had secured an injunction from the Election Petition Tribunal, ordering INEC to allow them to inspect the materials used to conduct the disputed presidential election on February 25.
This means that the parties will carry out forensic inspection of over 176,000 BVAS used in the election which are located in INEC LGA offices across the country.
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The electoral umpire had approached the court, seeking to vary the court’s order for inspection of the materials. In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal’s three-member panel of justices held that preventing INEC from reconfiguring the BVAS would adversely affect the governorship and State Assembly elections. It therefore granted the Commission’s prayer, dismissing LP’s objection.
However, the decision was made two days to the election, forcing INEC, which had earlier said it will need more time to configure the BVAS, to announce a new date for the election.
A statement issued by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, said INEC the postponement was necessitated by the need for enough time to prepare for the governorship and house of assembly election.
He said: “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. 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 (SCRs).”