The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly elections to March 18, 2023.

INEC said the postponement followed the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the elections, which were earlier slated for March 11, 2023.

The electoral umpire said 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”.

The commission made this known via a statement issued on Wednesday night by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.

Okoye noted that campaigns for the elections will continue until midnight of Thursday, March 16, 2023.

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The INEC official stated: “The Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the 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.

“This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. This has been the practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using Smart Card Readers.

“However, we wish to reiterate that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials. Consequently, it will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court.

“We wish to reassure all political parties and candidates that the data from the Presidential and National Assembly elections will be backed up and available in INEC cloud facilities, including the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

“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.

“We thank Nigerians and friends of Nigeria for their understanding as we continue to deal with these difficult issues and navigate these challenging times,” Okoye said.

The Star