The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the governorship election has been postponed by one week.
The exercise had previously been moved from March 11, 2023 to March 18, 2023, according to Daily Trust.
According to commission sources, more time was required for the exercise to be carried out.
Barr. Festus Okoye, National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, confirmed the postponement in a statement on Wednesday night, saying the commission needed time to reconfigure the BVAS utilized for the Presidential election on February 25th, 2023.
He recalled that on March 3, 2023, the Presidential EPT issued an ex-parte order requiring some political parties to investigate materials used in the presidential election, including the forensic inspection of over 176,000 BVAS utilized in the election and located in INEC LGA offices across the country.
“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,” the commission asked the Tribunal to reconsider the order.
“For example, the BVAS can only be enabled on the exact date and hour of an election. After being used for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25th, 2023, the BVAS must be reconfigured for activation on the day of the gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.
“Although the judgement of the tribunal makes it possible for the commission to undertake the preparation of the BVAS for the gubernatorial and state assembly elections, it has arrived far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.
“Consequently, the commission has taken the painful but necessary decision to reschedule the gubernatorial and state assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023,”Okoye explained.
The Daily Trust previously reported that the Court of Appeal in Abuja approved INEC’s request to modify the BVAS used for the presidential election.
A three-member panel of justices unanimously decided that barring the commission from altering the BVAS would have a negative impact on the governorship and State Assembly elections.
It rejected the Labour Party’s and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, objections to the proposal.
