The worrying apathy among Nigeria’s voting population would again come to show in next month gubernatorial election in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa States as only 5.4 million Nigerians are on the voting register in the three states for the polls, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun made this known in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Commission held its regular meeting today, 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,” Olumekun noted.
He said soft copies of the complete register of voters for each State will be presented to the political parties participating in the elections.
The National commissioner continued, “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”.
Olumekun added that in furtherance of INEC’s commitment to deepen the deployment of technology for voter accreditation and result management, the Commission has finalized preparations for mock accreditation of voters in the three States to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
The exercise will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday, October 14, 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 for the exercise”, he stated.
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Furthermore, the commission has accredited 119 domestic and eight foreign observers for the November 11 governorship elections.
Foreign observers include the British High Commission, European Union, High Commission of Canada, and International Foundation for Electoral Systems, National Democratic Institute, Pan African Women Projects, United States Embassy, Abuja, and African Union Development Agency.
Some of the domestic observers include the Center for Citizens with Disability, the National Orientation Agency, the Yiaga African Initiative, the Police Service Commission, Human Life Protection Advocacy Initiative, among others.
“The Commission held its regular meeting today, 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,” Olumekun noted.
He said soft copies of the complete register of voters for each State will be presented to the political parties participating in the elections.
The National commissioner continued, “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”.
Olumekun added that in furtherance of INEC’s commitment to deepen the deployment of technology for voter accreditation and result management, the Commission has finalized preparations for mock accreditation of voters in the three States to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
The exercise will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm.
Read also INEC ready for Kogi, Bayelsa elections- Chairman
“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 for the exercise”, he stated.
Furthermore, the commission has accredited 119 domestic and eight foreign observers for the November 11 governorship elections.
Foreign observers include the British High Commission, European Union, High Commission of Canada, and International Foundation for Electoral Systems, National Democratic Institute, Pan African Women Projects, United States Embassy, Abuja, and African Union Development Agency.
Some of the domestic observers include the Center for Citizens with Disability, the National Orientation Agency, the Yiaga African Initiative, the Police Service Commission, Human Life Protection Advocacy Initiative, among others.
Nigeria has a history of low voter turnout during elections since return to democratic rule in 1999 largely due to disenchantment of the people over bad governance and violence.
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