The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says that it will deploy over 200,000 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the upcoming 2023 general elections.

INEC National Commissioner in charge of Abia, Anambra and Benue, Festus Okoye, said that the BVAS would be deployed in the 176,000 polling units across the country.

Mr Okoye, who was in Abia to monitor the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), said this during an interactive session with journalists in Umuahia on Friday that the surplus would be kept handy as a reserve.

“We will have one BVAS reserve in every Registration Area Centre (RAC) to ensure immediate intervention in case of any failure,” said Mr Okoye, who is the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.

He further said that Technical Officers would be on standby at every RAC to attend to any technical issues that could arise in the course of the polls.

Mr Okoye further said that the commission had the capacity to conduct seamless general elections in 2023 and was set to replicate the achievements and successes recorded in the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections.

He attributed the commission’s feat in the two elections to the deployment of technology, which he said the outcomes “have given Nigerians fresh hopes”.

He said that 2023 offered the commission an opportunity to improve on its record, and that INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, had assured of the commission’s determination to ensure that people’s vote count.

(NAN)