The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has postponed the governorship and state house of assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 11.
In a statement on Wednesday night, INEC National Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, said the elections will hold on Saturday, March 18.
He said following the ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal EPT, on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, used for the February 25 Presidential election, the Commission met to assess its impact on its preparations for the governorship exercise.
He added that the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023
According to Okoye, political parties will continue their campaigns until midnight of Thursday, 16th March 2023 – 24 hours before the new date for the election.
Okoye stated that though the tribunal’s ruling would enable INEC to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the governorship and state assembly elections, it is too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.