INEC to continue voting, collation Sunday

AKWA -The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will begin voting and collation of Anambra State governorship election results on Sunday morning.

The resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, disclosed this while briefing journalists and civil society groups at the INEC office in Awka.

According to him, the commission was satisfied with the progress made despite the glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.

Dr Nkwachukwu Orji: “I’m happy to report to you that the technical glitches we experienced with our BVAS were largely solved. We thank the voters and candidates for patiently waiting for the problem with the device to be resolved.

“The report we got from our field officers and independent observers convinced us that most voters were able to vote with the BVAS, following the extension of voting period to 4pm and our regulation that any voter on the queue at the time must be allowed to vote.”

Resident Commissioner, had earlier pointed out that voting may continue on Sunday, but during the briefing, he expressed satisfaction that most of those who turned out voted.

“The election is by no means over. We have now entered a critical stage of the process, namely collation of results.

“We have made adequate arrangement for collation of results at the registration area, local government areas and the state level.

“Results for polling units are already being uploaded in our IRev portal and registration area and the registration area collation has been progressing well.

“I’m glad to announce that state collation will commence Sunday at the state collation center. I invite those who are entitled to be present to come witness it,” the REC added.