By Safiu Kehinde
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed the postponement of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections till the 18th of March, 2023.
This is coming two days to the initial date scheduled by the election umpire which was 11th of March, 2023.
As contained in a statement issued by INEC yesterday, the postponement was borne out of court’s approval for the reconfiguration of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which, according to INEC, came too late.
“While the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly Elections, it has come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.
“Consequently, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023.” The statement read.
INEC also announced the extension of campaign till the midnight of Thursday 16th 2023.
Meanwhile, in response to concerns over the possibility of infiltrating the Presidential election results, INEC assured the safety of the election result, stressing that all data collated during the general election will be backed up before the reconfiguration process begins.
Recall that BlackBox Nigeria had earlier reported the postponement of the election date, following a disclosure of the information by an official of the electoral body.
