The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled a mock accreditation of voters on Saturday, October 14, 2023, in preparation for the Kogi State governorship election on November 11, 2023.
Prof Mahmud Yakubu, national chairman of INEC, made the announcement at the Kogi INEC Headquarters in Lokoja during the formal publication and presentation of the voter registration to the 18 participating political parties in the impending governorship election.
Yakubu, who was represented by a national commissioner, Prof Sani Adam (SAN), stated that the election will be held in only nine polling units, three from each of the state’s three senatorial districts.
The chairman indicated that similar excise will take place concurrently in Bayelsa and Imo states, where governorship elections will also take place on November 11.
He urged residents and voters in the selected polling units to turn out in force for the exercise, which he described as a litmus test for the actual election.
He claims that the commission is properly equipped for the governorship election. He urged politicians and voters to follow the rules of the game in order for the election to be peaceful, credible, and successful.
“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.