…to deploy BVAS in 2, 244 Polling Units…

Deploys 1 national commissioner, 8 RECs

By Emem Idio, Yenagoa

A total of 1, 017, 613 Bayelsa State residents who have collected their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, will on Saturday go to the ballot to choose the next governor of the state.

The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this in Yenagoa, yesterday at a stakeholders meeting ahead of Saturday’s elections, just as he noted that the Commission has already deployed one national commissioner and eight resident electoral commissioner for the exercise.

Yakubu, who was represented by the National Commissioner Supervising Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, Mrs May Abumuche Mbu, said out of 1, 056, 862 Registered Voters in the State, 1, 017, 613 have collected their PVCs with 39, 249 PVCs remaining uncollected in the State.

The national chairman who was flanked by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Bayelsa State, Obo Effanga and that of Osun and Lagos states, and heads of security agencies, pointed out that the Commission will deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System ,BVAS, in all the 2, 244 Polling Units in the State for the Election.

He said as an electoral umpire, it is the responsibility of the Commission to regularly give update on the activities of the Commission and to provide a forum to generate discussions with a view to achieving transparent, peaceful and violence free election.

His words: “You will recall that the Commission published the National Register of Voters on the 11thof January, 2023 which was used for the conduct of the 2023 General Election. The same Register of Voters will be used for the 2023 Governorship Election in Bayelsa State. The total number of Registered Voters in Bayelsa State for the Governorship Election is 1, 056, 862 comprising of 566, 095 Males and
490, 767 Females.

“The Commission on the 10th of September 2023 in preparation for the Election lifted the suspension of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collection in the three States of Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi where election will hold this Saturday. All uncollected PVCs were thereafter made available for collection between 11th of
September and 10th of October,2023.

“The Commission has now published on our website, comprehensive information of collected and uncollected PVCs in the State on Polling Unit Basis. The information also gives the distribution of the Polling Units by delimitation, the number of Registered Voters and the number of collected and uncollected PVCs.

“The breakdown indicates that out of 1, 056, 862 Registered Voters in Bayelsa State, 1, 017, 613 have collected their PVCs with 39, 249 PVCs remaining uncollected in the State. Kindly visit the Commission’s website for more details.

“The Commission will deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in all the 2, 244 Polling Units in Bayelsa State for the Election.

“We have trained Technical Support Staff that will be deployed to all the Registration Areas (RAs) and Local Government Areas (LGAs) to provide technical support for the BVAS.

“Extensive hands-on-practicals on the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and Uploading of the Result to IREV (INEC Result Viewing Portal) by the appropriate Personnel have also been made.

“On Saturday, 14thOctober, 2023, the Commission even conducted a mock accreditation exercise involving Voters in designated Polling Units in all LGAs in Bayelsa State. This exercise enabled the Commission to test the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for both biometric authentication of Voters and the upload of result to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“We have so far received no adverse report from those who observed the exercise and
viewed the results on the IReV Portal. The Commission looks forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in this Governorship Election and beyond.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it is important to state that in exercise of the powers conferred on the Commission by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and the Electoral Act, 2022, the Commission issued a timetable and schedule of activitiesfor the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election.

“The Commission has also accredited Polling Agents nominated by Political Parties for the Polling Units, Ward Collation centres, Local Government Area Collation Centres and to he State Collation Centre where the final declaration of result will be made.

“On Election Day, The National Headquarters of INEC in Abuja will monitor the Election throughout the State. Our Zoom Situation Room will be accordingly activated. Members of the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) will also activate their situation room on Bayelsa State to monitor the security situation across the State.

“The Commission has been working assiduously and making arrangements for the
successful conduct of the Governorship Election this weekend and have had several engagements with the Security Agencies at National, State and Local Government levels.

“We have recruited, trained and carefully screened all ad-hoc staff to be deployed to the field. All non sensitive materials for the election have been delivered to all our 8 Local Government Area offices across the State. Voter education and sensitisation is ongoing.

“We have made arrangements for the
transportation of Personnel and materials to ensure that Polling Units open on schedule on Election Day.

“For a more effective supervision of the process, we are deploying one National
Commissioner, 8 Resident Electoral Commissioners and many senior officials to
support our State office here in Bayelsa to deliver credible elections.

“2 International and 53 Domestic Media Organisations are deploying 282 Journalists. Also 2, 000 Domestic Observers, 8 Foreign Observers are expected.

“I implorethe good people of Bayelsa State, our traditional rulers, market women, youths, leaders and members of Political Parties in the State including the Candidates in the election and all other Stakeholders to allow peace to reign in the State before, during and after the election.”