The newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has assured Nigerians that the commission will resolve all network challenges encountered during the mock accreditation exercise in Anambra State ahead of the November 8 governorship election.
Amupitan, who presided over his first Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, said INEC was fully prepared to deliver a free, fair, and credible election.
“We recently conducted a Mock Accreditation Exercise in 12 selected polling units across six Local Government Areas of Anambra State using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS),” Amupitan said.
“Although we experienced some network challenges, efforts are underway to ensure a seamless election on November 8, 2025. We are ready for large-scale deployment on Election Day.”
According to him, the commission will deploy about 24,000 personnel across 5,718 polling units, with results collated at 326 ward centres, 21 local government area centres, and the State Collation Centre in Awka.
He also announced that PVC collection in Anambra would be extended from Wednesday, October 29 to Sunday, November 2, 2025, to ensure that no eligible voter is left out.
Amupitan further disclosed that INEC had concluded logistics arrangements with transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), adding that 200 buses and 83 boats had been hired for the movement of election materials and officials.
He commended security agencies for their ongoing coordination and warned against voter inducement.
“Any attempt to induce voters before or during the election must be resisted. We must join hands to combat vote buying and protect the credibility of our democracy,” he said.
Representatives from security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies were also present at the meeting, which was co-chaired by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
Amupitan expressed optimism that, with collective effort, the Anambra governorship election would “set a new benchmark for transparency and integrity in Nigeria’s electoral process.”
