Mock Accreditation: INEC Announces 436 Polling Units

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 436 polling units have been selected across Nigeria for the mock accreditation exercise ahead of the 2023 general election.

The mock accreditation exercise which is scheduled to commence on February 4, will be used as a medium to train and retrain INEC’s ad-hoc staff.

Also, the exercise will be used to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which will be used throughout the general elections.

Twelve polling units in six Local Government Areas (two LGAs in each of the 109 Senatorial districts) and two Local Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory made up the 436 polling units that will be used for the exercise.

A list of polling units has been made accessible on the commission’s official website.

On the other hand, it is anticipated that the collection of Permanent Voters Cards, which were returned to the offices of the commission at the local government level, will end across Nigeria on Sunday, January 29.

To give those who haven’t yet picked up their cards a chance to do so, the commission may decide to extend the exercise once more.

The Commission’s Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu indicated on Friday while speaking at a meeting with state Resident Electoral Commissioners from the 36 states and the FCT.

He said the Commission may consider other options to ensure that more Nigerians collect their PVC ahead of the February 25th Presidential and National Assembly election.