Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday, October 14, 2023, for mock accreditation of voters in preparation for the November 11 Governorship election in the State.
Gatekeepers News reports that the INEC National Chairman Prof Mahmud Yakubu disclosed this at the Kogi INEC Headquarters in Lokoja during the official publication and presentation of the register of voters to the 18 participating political parties in the upcoming governorship election.
Yakubu, who was represented by a national commissioner, Prof Sani Adam (SAN), said that the exercise would take place in only nine polling units, three each from the three senatorial districts of the State.
The Chairman announced that similar excise shall simultaneously take place in Bayelsa and Imo states, whose governorship elections shall also be held on November 11.
He called on the residents and voters in the selected polling units to come out en masse to participate in the exercise, which he described as a litmus test for the real election.
According to him, the commission is well prepared for the governorship poll. He appealed to politicians and the electorate to abide by the rules of the game for a peaceful, credible, and successful conduct of the election.
“We have all it takes in terms of staff and logistics, as well as the necessary security support by security operatives, to conduct a peaceful and successful election in Kogi.
“As a commission, we expect everyone to eschew any form of violence or crisis to help usher in a leader that will pilot the affairs of the state after Jan. 26 for the desired growth and development,” he advised.
Yakubu spoke about the imperative of the publication and presentation of the voter register to the 18 political parties.
He said that the total number of registered voters in Kogi for the election is 1,932,654, among them 953,941 males.
“A copy of the register of voters in PDF will be issued to all the political parties contesting the election. The commission will deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in all the 3,508 polling units in Kogi for the election.
“Already, we have trained technical support staff that will be deployed to all the registration areas and the local government areas to provide technical support for BVAS,” he said.
