The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), will next week Saturday, February 5, conduct mock accreditation of voters in 436 polling units across the country.
The exercise is to test-run INEC’s readiness for the nationwide deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and other logistics for the February/March general election.
The commission has designated 12 polling units 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.
INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at a meeting with States Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja, yesterday, to put finishing touches to the umpire’s preparations for the forthcoming elections.
Yakubu said a comprehensive list of the polling units, including their names and code numbers, as well as their distribution by State, senatorial district, local government areas, and registration area (Ward) will be uploaded to the INEC website shortly.
He appealed to registered voters in the affected polling units to appear on the scheduled date with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for the mock exercise.
The chairman said additional measures to ensure that all citizens have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the general election will be considered at the meeting after examination of reports from States.
He assured Nigerians that the commission will always be responsive to the needs of the electorate, noting that saying PVCs
collection is one of the few issues to be addressed preparatory to the polls.
He further informed that the movement of materials for the election to various locations nationwide is being concluded and training of officials will commence shortly.
Yakubu said airlifting and delivery of sensitive materials to states of the federation has gone far, adding that ongoing consultations with stakeholders will be intensified.
