Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Polls: INEC Holds Mock Election October 14

•We expect peaceful poll, says US Consulate-General

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Ahead of the November 11 governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it would hold mock elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi state on October 14, 2023.

INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman,

Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement issued yesterday, said the mock election would be held simultaneously.

He said a maximum of three polling units in each Senatorial District had been identified across each of the three states, covering a total of nine Senatorial Districts and 27 polling units.

Olumekun, noted that lessons learnt from the exercise would be taken into consideration in ensuring a seamless process on election day.

He noted: “The Commission met today Monday 25th September 2023 and, among other issues, reviewed the preparations for the forthcoming off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled for Saturday 11th November 2023.

“As was the case in recent off-cycle governorship elections, the Commission will conduct a mock accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling units results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“The test run will take place simultaneously in the three States on Saturday 14th October 2023 from 8.30am to 2.30pm.”

Olumekun, stressed that the full details of the polling units, including their locations by Local Government Area (LGA), Registration Area (RA)/Ward, Delimitation Code and number of registered voters have been uploaded to our website and social media platforms.

The Commission appealed to registered voters in the selected polling units to turn up with their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for the exercise.

The commission further advised the public this was strictly a test accreditation exercise and not the actual election.

Meanwhile, the United States Consulate-General in Nigeria has said they were monitoring activities in Bayelsa State ahead of the November 11 governorship election and expect that it would be peaceful and credible.

The consulate’s Political/Economic Section Chief, Mr. Mike Ervin, stated this yesterday, during a courtesy visit to Governor Douye Diri at the Government House, Yenagoa.

Ervin, said the delegation was in the state to monitor the activities because the United States was a partner of the Nigerian government in the conduct of elections.

He said: “As you well know, the United States is a fundamental partner of the Nigerian government in the conduct of elections. We are friends and we learn from one another when it comes to democracy and how democracy can thrive.

“We are also here to see how Bayelsa is experiencing democracy at work. We want to know how things are going in your state and to also give you our good wishes for a peaceful election. We expect that the democratic process reflects the will of the people come November 11.

“We will continue to be partners of INEC and we look forward to a very healthy democratic day in a number of weeks.”

Responding, Diri said his administration was open to partnering the international community to advance democracy through free, fair and transparent electoral process in the state.

He said his expectation going into the November 11 election was that the will of the people would prevail and not truncated by unknown forces.

The Bayelsa helmsman noted that he was in the governorship contest not only because of the constitutional provision but that he wants his vision and plans for the state to materialise.

He however, expressed concern over security intelligence about his opponents, particularly of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, and his role in the crisis bedevilling the Nembe-Bassambiri community in a bid to subvert the will of the people during the election.

His words: “I believe that your coming will motivate us and add to the growth and development of democracy in Nigeria and in our state.

“My government is of the Peoples Democratic Party and our key opponents are from the APC and Labour Party. Of course, there are other parties. But all what we want as a government is a free, fair and transparent electoral process.

“Like you rightly said, the will of the people should prevail and they should be able to elect who they want.

“But our worry is about the kind of security intelligence we are getting and also the street intelligence about our opponents, particularly of the APC, who was a former governor. We have seen signs of insecurity in Nembe-Bassambiri where he is from. It is like a repeat of what happened in the 2019 election.”

Also on the delegation were the Political Officer (Niger Delta), Jordan Lachance, and the Political Specialist, Arnold Abulime.