The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) anticipates that a total of 5.4 million individuals will participate in the upcoming off-cycle governorship elections scheduled for November 11 in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo.
According to INEC, Bayelsa will have approximately 1.05 million registered voters, Imo will have 2.4 million, and Kogi will have two million registered voters.
During a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday, Sam Olumekun, the national commissioner and chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, shared that the commission has thoroughly reviewed its preparations for the forthcoming elections.
Furthermore, Olumekun assured that electronic copies of the complete voters’ register for each state would be made available to all participating political parties.
“In Bayelsa, 16 political parties will be sponsoring candidates, 17 political parties in Imo, and 18 parties in Kogi. State chairmen of political parties or their representatives are invited to attend the presentation of the registers on October 12 at INEC’s offices in Lokoja, Owerri, and Yenagoa at 10:00 a.m.,” he stated.
Olumekun also emphasized that INEC has finalized arrangements for a mock accreditation of voters in the three states as part of their commitment to enhance the use of technology for voter accreditation and result management.
In this regard, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the upload of polling units’ results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) will be tested during the mock exercise.
“The mock exercise is scheduled to take place simultaneously in the three states on Saturday, October 14, commencing from 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 2:30 p.m.
The list of designated polling units for each state has already been uploaded to INEC’s website and various social media platforms,” explained Mr. Olumekun.
He urged all registered voters in the selected polling units to actively participate in the mock exercise by bringing their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) with them.
