INEC To Release Nearly 50,000 Officers For November Off-Cycle Governorship Elections

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),Prof. Mahmood Yakubu revealed that nearly 50000 regular and ad hoc staff will be released for the forthcoming off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states which will come up on November 11.

In a meeting with state Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja, Chairman Yakubu also announced that the 18 political parties participating in the elections plan to deploy 137,934 agents, consisting of 130,093 polling agents and 7,841 collation officers.

In addition to that, the INEC chairman confirmed that the commission has already accredited around 126 national and international organizations, which will collectively deploy 11,000 observers for the elections.

He provided details about the upcoming off-cycle governorship elections, which will involve 5,409,438 registered voters across 649 electoral wards in 56 local government areas, with 10,510 polling units.

INEC chairman stated that all non-sensitive materials for the election have been delivered to the three states, and preparatory activities, including training, are progressing.

He also mentioned that the recent mock accreditation exercise involving actual voters was successful, testing the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for biometric authentication and result uploads to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“We have so far accredited 126 national and international organisations collectively deploying 11,000 observers for the election.

“Although the portal for media accreditation closes on Tuesday 24th October 2023, we have received applications from 80 media organisations seeking to deploy 1,203 personnel made up of journalists and technical/support staff to report on the elections.

“The 18 political parties participating in the elections are deploying 137,934 agents made up of 130,093 polling and 7,841 collation agents. We are also finalizing arrangements for vehicles and boats for land and maritime movement of personnel and materials,” Prof. Yakubu said.

Regarding security concerns, Yakubu acknowledged the prevailing insecurity and election-related violence in the three states and expressed reassurance from security agencies about adequate deployment.

He stated that INEC would continue to engage with security agencies to address these concerns. Media accreditation for the elections was also discussed, with applications from numerous media organizations received.