The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted allegations that its officials were reconfiguring Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines in Kogi State Government House ahead of the November 11 governorship election. INEC dismissed the claims as baseless and urged Nigerians to ignore them, noting that the individuals mentioned in the report are not currently in Lokoja.
The allegations were made by ID Ijele, Director of New Media of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Governorship campaign team in Kogi State. Ijele accused three INEC staff members of maliciously reconfiguring the BVAS machines in the Government House with the intention of manipulating the upcoming election in favor of a candidate.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Commission, clarified that the configuration of BVAS machines is conducted simultaneously and exclusively in INEC offices in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States. These configurations are professionally and strictly handled by teams deployed from the national headquarters in Abuja.
Oyekanmi stated, “The story is untrue. The three persons mentioned are not associated with the configuration of the BVAS machines and are not even in Kogi State at the moment. The public is advised to disregard the story as fake news.” Oyekanmi also appealed to political parties to refrain from engaging in malicious rumor-mongering of this nature.
