The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will test-run its readiness towards a successful election by holding a mock accreditation of voters using the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System on Saturday 4th February 2023 in 436 polling units nationwide.

Chairman of the electoral body, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who disclosed this at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja said 12 polling units have been designated in each State of the Federation and four in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on the equality of the country’s 109 Senatorial Districts for the exercise.

” A comprehensive list of the polling units, including their names and PU Code numbers, as well as their distribution by State, Senatorial District, Local Government and Registration Area (Ward) will be uploaded to the Commission’s website shortly.

“The Commission appeals to registered voters in the affected polling units to appear on the scheduled date with their PVCs for the mock exercise. Doing so will help to reassure the public of the robustness of our system and to strengthen our processes ahead of the General Election. Civil society organisations, the media and the general public are welcome to observe the process,” he said.

According to him, the 436 BVAS machines involved at the end of the exercise will be reconfigured before they are deployed for the General Election.

Giving an update on the preparations for the 2023 general elections, Prof. Yakubu said “movement of materials for the election to various locations nationwide is being concluded. Training of officials will commence shortly. Ongoing consultations with stakeholders will be intensified. Airlifting and delivery of sensitive materials to States of the Federation has gone far. Accreditation of national and international observers and the media is being finalised.

“Critical service providers in the area of transportation have reassured us of their commitment to efficient logistics for the movement of materials and personnel to various locations while the security agencies have reaffirmed their readiness for the election”.

Speaking on the on going collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards nationwide, the INEC boss noted that as at Thursday 26th January 2023, a total number of 839,720 PVCs have been collected representing 89.3% of the total figure in Lagos state.

Prof Yakubu promised that Friday’s meeting with RECs will consider reports from other States of the Federation stressing that;” the Commission will not hesitate to consider additional measures to ensure that all citizens have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the General Election. We wish to assure Nigerians that the Commission will always be responsive to the needs of the electorate”.

The BVAS machine has been very controversial since its introduction and has divided the political class into two opposing groups. A group wants it to be used in the 2023 election while the other does not giving excuses of its imperfection and lack of network coverage in some communities. INEC has, however, responded that the BVAS machine does not need network to function.

A twist on the significance of the BVAS to the conduct of election was added on Friday with the outcome of the Osun State Election Tribunal that premised its majority judgement on the Certified True Copy of BVAS used for the July 16, 2022 governorship election. There were before the Tribunal two different Certified True Copies of the BVAS report obtained from INEC. The first was obtained by the petitioner, former Governor Gboyega Oyetola and the APC while another was obtained by incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke and the PDP referred to as the synchronized BVAS report.

Ultimately, the majority judgement was based on the first Certified True Copy of the BVAS report as issued by INEC which showed a discrepancy in the number of voters accredited and the results announced.