INEC Invites Voters In Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa For Trial Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to conduct a mock accreditation exercise across 9 Senatorial Districts and 27 polling units ahead of the November 11 governorship elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa States.

INEC will employ the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and uploading of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during the mock exercise.

Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee unveiled these plans in an official press statement.

Olumekun revealed this on Monday after the commission’s weekly meeting, where preparations for the upcoming off-cycle governorship polls were discussed

The trial will run simultaneously on October 14, 2023, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, in the three states.

“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.

“The Commission appeals to 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,” the commission urged

As of February 2023, there were at least 5.2 million registered voters in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa States.

Bayelsa had 1.25 million, Imo 2.4 million and about 1.6 million in Kogi.