Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), has raised an alarm that some unnamed persons have allegedly “orchestrated plans” to cause chaos and disrupt the scheduled elections in parts of the country.
In the same breath in a statement on Wednesday, the DSS spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, warned the concerned individuals or groups, no matter how highly-placed they are, to abort such plans.
Political players were advised by the DSS to be law-abiding as Nigerians head to the polls for the Gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections.
The DSS pledged its commitment to the safety and security of citizens who may wish to go out to exercise their civic responsibility.
“All and sundry are, therefore, enjoined to abide by the rules of engagement particularly the Electoral Act and extant guidelines,” the statement added.
In a related development, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the Governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, March 11, 2023.
In a statement on Wednesday night, INEC spokesperson Festus Okoye said tyhat the elections will now hold on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
Mr. Okoye said that, following the ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election, the Commission met to assess its impact on its preparations for the governorship exercise.
“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,” he said, noting that political parties will continue their campaigns until midnight of Thursday, 16th March, 2023, – 24 hours before the new date for the elections.
Okoye explained 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.
He stated: “This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. This has been the practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using Smart Card Readers.
“However, we wish to reiterate that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials. Consequently, it will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court.”
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