INEC extends Anambra election beyond Saturday

AWKA, Anambra, Nigeria – Resident electoral Commissioner for Anambra State, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji has extended the governorship election in Anambra State beyond today, Saturday.

Announcing the development, the INEC Commissioner for the state said though the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) malfunctioned in some areas, the operation was smooth in other areas.

He said INEC is investigating the reason why the BIVAS malfunctioned in some areas, adding that In some of the cases, it would seem that this resulted from software glitches.

“Our technicians have already built an update to the devise software to prevent further challenges. The update is currently being installed in the concerned BVAS and we request voters, candidates and agents to be patient and allow our technical staff to solve the problem”, he said.

Voting to continue tomorrow or other date

He noted that in cases of sustained malfunction of the BVAS, the Presiding Officer must inform the voters and polling agents that accreditation and voting for the affected Polling Unit shall continue tomorrow or at another time determined by the Commission.

“With this extension of time and the recommencement of accreditation where the BVAS consistently malfunctions, the Commission assures that no voter will be disenfranchised”, he said.

He explained  that deployment of facilities has also been adversely affected by transportation challenges in some locations.

“ It must be noted that on account of security concerns, some of the transporters that were mobilized and collected 50% of their sign on fee backed out at the last moment, leaving some of our ad-hoc staff stranded. Also, some of the trained ad-hoc staff backed out at the last moment”, he said, adding that INEC is on top of these challenges and that extant regulations and guidelines will be applied on a case by case bases.

“ Consequently, we are harvesting areas where voting will realistically no longer take place today, including places where substantial disruption has occurred, to enable a possible recommencement of voting at another time, in line with extant laws and the regulations and guidelines of the Commission.

“We appeal to all voters, candidates, stakeholders communities and political parties to remain calm and law abiding. We assure you that the Commission is determined to a make all votes count”, he assured.