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Off-season elections: 5.4m to vote in Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that 5,409,438 eligible voters will partake in the forthcoming off-season governorship elections taking place next month in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.

National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, gave the disclosure in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Giving a breakdown of the voters, the INEC National Commissioner revealed that “there are 1,056 862 registered voters in Bayelsa State; 2,419,922 in Imo State; and 1,932,654 in Kogi State.”

The statement also revealed that for authentication of the figures, soft copies of the complete register of voters for each State will be presented to the political parties participating in the elections.

Olumekun also notified the public and the political parties that “the Commission has finalised preparations for mock accreditation of voters in the three States to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“The exercise will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm.”

His statement reads in part: “The Commission held its regular meeting today, Tuesday 10th October 2023 and, among other issues, reviewed preparations for the off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States.

“For the forthcoming elections, there are 1,056 862 registered voters in Bayelsa State; 2,419,922 in Imo State; and 1,932,654 in Kogi State, making a combined total of 5,409,438 registered voters for the three states.

“As provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities, soft copies of the complete register of voters for each State will be presented to the political parties participating in the elections. For emphasis, 16 political parties are sponsoring candidates in Bayelsa State, 17 in Imo State and all the 18 parties in Kogi State.

“State Chairmen of political parties or their designated representatives are invited to attend the event which will take place at the Collation Centres in the State Headquarters of the Commission in Lokoja, Owerri and Yenagoa on Thursday 12th October 2023 at 10.00 am.

“In furtherance of our commitment to deepen the deployment of technology for voter accreditation and result management, the Commission has finalised preparations for mock accreditation of voters in the three States to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“The exercise will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm.

“The list of designated polling units for each State has already been uploaded to our website and social media platforms.

“Lessons learnt from the exercise will be taken into consideration to ensure the seamless deployment of both the BVAS and IReV on Election Day. This is strictly a test run and not the actual election.

“Once again, the Commission appeals to registered voters in the selected polling units to turn up with their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) for the exercise.”

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