EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended political parties’ campaigns for the Governorship and State Assembly elections from 9th March to midnight of Thursday 16th March, following the postponement of the elections.
In a statement titled: “Rescheduling of Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Election” signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee Festus Okoye, on Wednesday, INEC said the decision was in line with an earlier guideline for campaigns to end 24 hours before election day.
It would be recalled that the Presidential Election Tribunal (EPT) had given an ex-parte order for some political parties to inspect materials used for the Presidential election, including the forensic inspection of over 176, 000 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used during the election.
But the Commission approached the Court to reconsider the order, arguing that the BVAS systems were to be deployed for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.
INEC told the Tribunal that the lack of a clearly defined timeframe for the inspection could disrupt its ability to conduct the outstanding elections.
“Having been used for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023, it is necessary to reconfigure the BVAS for activation on the date of the Governorship and State Assembly elections,” INEC said.
The Court, however, rejected INEC’s application to vary the opposition party’s access to election materials and ordered the Commission to allow the Applicants to inspect all the electoral materials and to carry out electronic scanning and/or make photocopies of Voter Registration and Ballot Papers used for the presidential election.
INEC had assured it would backup the accreditation data contained in the BVAS systems and would make same available to all applicants.
It further granted them leave to conduct a Digital Forensic Inspection of BVAS machines used for the election, adding that INEC should furnish them with the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the result of the inspection.
“The Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials…Political parties can apply for Certified True Copies of the backend data of the BVAS.
“Also, the results on the BVAS will continue to be available on the IReV for interested parties to access,” Okoye assured.