The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has disclosed that the Commission would deploy about 7,896 observers to monitor the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States.
He stated this at a consultative meeting with National Commissioners and leaders of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
Yakubu acknowledged the involvement of many CSOs in deploying observer teams for these elections, with a total of 145 accredited organizations.
The INEC Chairman also assured the accredited organizations that they would soon be invited to pick up identity cards for their observers.
He also highlighted the recent successful mock accreditation exercise conducted by INEC in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States, which tested the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for biometric voter authentication and result upload to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV). He noted that the mock exercise received no adverse reports, and expressed confidence in the BVAS performance for voter accreditation and result upload in the upcoming governorship elections.
The INEC Chairman emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder involvement in elections and assured continued engagement with security agencies to ensure the safety of individuals participating in elections and the protection of the electoral process.
He also reassured the CSOs of the Commission’s commitment to ensuring unimpeded access to voting and collation locations for observers, while urging accredited observers to adhere strictly to the code of conduct for election observation.
Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi governorship elections are crucial to INEC, and the Chairman promised a detailed briefing on the Commission’s level of preparations, welcoming comments and observations from the CSOs.
