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Nigeria: Governorship and State Assembly Elections Postponed to March 18 by INEC

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Governorship and State Assembly Elections Postponed to March 18 by INEC

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the gubernatorial elections scheduled for March 11, citing logistical challenges. The election for new governors for 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states will now be held on March 18. The move comes in response to a request from the electoral body to reset the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, which are part of new technologies heavily used in this year’s Nigeria elections to make them more transparent.

The BVAS machines were used in last month’s presidential and legislative elections, which were won by the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu. However, observer groups have criticized the election commission over technological problems that marred the presidential election. These glitches have become a major highlight in the several challenges filed by the opposition against the ruling party’s victory in the presidential election.

The two main opposition parties have said the glitches gave room for votes to be tampered with and that the electoral body did not follow its own rules and the country’s own election laws in announcing a winner. Runner-up Atiku Abubakar is calling for the cancellation of the presidential election while the candidate who finished third, Peter Obi, has said he has proof he won the contest.

Ahead of the gubernatorial election, a local court on Wednesday approved the electoral body’s request to reset the BVAS machines. However, that court ruling came “far too late” for the machines to be reset in time for use in the March 11 election, forcing a one-week extension in the date, the electoral body said.

According to Festus Okoye, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, the decision to postpone the election was not taken lightly but was 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 and reconfigure them for the coming elections.

By rescheduling the gubernatorial and state assembly elections to March 18, campaigns will continue until midnight on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Okoye reiterated that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials and will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court.

In a statement confirming the postponement, Okoye said, “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 (IRe). 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 IRe for interested parties to access.”

Nigeria’s general elections are held every four years and feature single terms for major political positions. The postponed gubernatorial vote is part of Nigeria’s general elections, including last month’s presidential vote won by the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu. However, the opposition is currently contesting the outcome of the presidential election.

INEC’s full statement confirming postponement:

Following today’s ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the 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, 11t 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 VAS 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 VAS 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 VAS for activation on the date of the Govemorship and State Assembly elections.

While the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparation of the VAS 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 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 25 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 the 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 (IRe). 

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 IRe 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.

Barr. Festus Okoye 

National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee 

Wednesday 8th March 2023

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