The United Kingdom State Minister (Development & Africa), Andrew Mitchell has called on Independent National Electoral Commission INEC that the challenges faced by the February 25 elections are overcome since the Gubernatorial elections is rescheduled.
Andrew Mitchell who made this known on his Tweeter handle on Friday, saying the Nigerian people continue to show their commitment to democracy and it is encouraging that parties are working to resolve disputes peacefully and through the courts.
According to him, “Now that gubernatorial elections have been rescheduled for 18 March, I hope the challenges faced by @inecnigeria in last month’s elections are overcome to ensure maximum participation and that all voters are able to exercise their right to vote safely”.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission postponed the Governorship and State Assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 11 by one week as the elections will now hold on March 18, 2023.
National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye announced the shift in a statement Wednesday night.
Since the conclusion of the Presidential and National Assembly polls, the electoral body has been in court over the application seeking to extract data embedded in bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and inspect other election materials.
Okoye said, “the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023.
The INEC statement titled: “RESCHEDULING OF GOVERNORSHIP AND STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS,” reads thus: “Following today’s ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
“Used for Presidential election held on 25th February 2023, the Commission met to assess its impact on the Commission’s preparations for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, 11th March 2023.
“Nigerians would recall that on 3rd March 2023, the Presidential 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 BVAS used in the election which are located in INEC LGA offices across the country.
“The Commission approached the Tribunal to reconsider the order, 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. For instance, the BVAS can only be activated on the specific date and time of an election.
“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.
“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 reschedule Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023.
“By this decision, campaigns will continue until midnight of Thursday 16th March 2023 i.e. 24 hours before the new date for the election”, the statement said.