Off-cycle polls: INEC fixes Oct 14 for mock accreditation of voters in three states

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will carry out a mock accreditation of voters ahead of the off-cycle elections in three states.

The off-cycle governorship elections are scheduled for November 11 in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states.

Sam Olumekun, the INEC national commissioner and chairman of information and voter education committee, said on Monday that the mock accreditation would take place at 27 polling units across the three states.

According to Olumekun, lessons from the exercise would be used to ensure a smooth process on election day.

“The commission met today Monday 25th September 2023 and, among other issues, reviewed the preparations for the forthcoming off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled for Saturday 11th November 2023,” a statement by the INEC commissioner reads.

“As was the case in recent off-cycle Governorship elections, the Commission will conduct a mock accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“The test run will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

“A maximum of three polling units in each Senatorial District have been identified across each of the three States, covering a total of nine Senatorial Districts and 27 polling units. Lessons learnt from the exercise will be taken into consideration in ensuring a seamless process on Election Day.

“Full details of the polling units, including their locations by Local Government Area (LGA), Registration Area (RA)/Ward, Delimitation Code and number of registered voters have been uploaded to our website and social media platforms.”

He urged registered voters in the selected polling units to turn up with their permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) for the exercise.

“The public is advised that this is strictly a test accreditation exercise and not the actual election,” he said.