INEC mobilises 46,084 staff for governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will deploy 46,084 staff for the conduct of the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states on November 11, 2023.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, revealed on Friday in Abuja that 46,084 staff would be deployed for the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states on November 11, 2023. The staff consists of regular and ad hoc personnel who will supervise the voting process in 10,510 polling units in 56 local government areas in the three states.

He said that the commission had completed all the arrangements for the elections, such as delivering non-sensitive materials, training staff, and testing the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

The BVAS is a new device that uses fingerprints and facial recognition to verify voters. Yakubu said that the commission carried out a mock accreditation exercise in some polling units in the three states last week and was happy with the performance of the BVAS. He also said that the outcomes of the elections would be posted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) for public access.

Yakubu said that the commission had approved 126 national and international organisations to monitor the elections, with a total of 11,000 observers. He also said that 80 media organisations had requested to cover the elections, with 1,203 personnel, including journalists and technical staff. He added that the 18 political parties participating in the elections had submitted the names of 137,934 agents, comprising 130,093 polling agents and 7,841 collation agents.

Yakubu expressed worry about the security situation and the risk of election-related violence in the three states. He said that the commission had been assured by the security agencies of sufficient deployment and protection of personnel and materials. He said that the commission would keep engaging with the security agencies and other stakeholders to ensure a peaceful and credible election.

The governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi are off-cycle elections that are held at different times from the general elections due to various reasons, such as court judgements, the deaths, or the resignation of incumbents. The elections are expected to be fiercely contested by candidates from various parties, especially the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).