The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kogi says a total of 1.6 million Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) have been issued to their owners in the state.

Briefing journalists on the commission’s preparations ahead of Saturday’s general elections, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kogi, Gabriel Longpet, said the 1.6 million eligible voters were out of the 1.9 million residents registered to vote in the election.

Mr Lonpet said the 1.6 million voters represent 84 per cent of the registered population in the state.

The REC commended the Kogi electorate for their enthusiasm to collect their PVCs and urged them to come out en mass to cast their votes on the election dates.

“As part of our preparedness for the elections, we have so far collected 3,508 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which have been configured to be used in all the 3,508 polling units across the state.

“We have also received additional 282 backup BVAS to be used in case of any eventuality during the elections.

“One good thing about the BVAS is that it will help improve the transparency of election results and increase public confidence in electoral outcomes in the 2023 elections, ” he assured.

The REC further disclosed that the deployment of election materials to the 21 LGAs of the state has been done and that more materials arrived at CBN yesterday for collection by the commission.

He said ad hoc staff, presiding and assistant presiding officers, have been recruited and trained with practical demonstrations in their ability to use the BVAS for successful and credible conduct of the elections.

He added that the training of technicians that would handle any challenge with the BVAS had also been concluded.

On security, Mr Longpet said the commission had held meetings with heads of security agencies in the state, who had assured the commission of peaceful and violence-free elections.

While reiterating the commission’s preparedness and readiness to conduct free, fair and credible elections in the state, Longpet called on political parties, politicians and their supporters to ensure they abide by the rules and regulations guiding election conduct.

(NAN)