The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has announced that the commission is fully prepared for the forthcoming Ekiti State governorship election, assuring stakeholders of a credible and orderly exercise.
Amupitan gave the assurance on Friday in Ado-Ekiti during an interactive engagement with media executives, held just eight days before the poll.
He said all necessary arrangements had been concluded to ensure the smooth conduct of the election across the state.
He also reassured voters, political parties, and other stakeholders that the commission was committed to delivering a peaceful, transparent, and credible process.
Prior to the media briefing, Amupitan led a high-level delegation comprising national commissioners, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), and senior officials of INEC on an inspection tour of polling units where a mock accreditation exercise was conducted.
He said the field visit was aimed at testing the readiness of personnel and systems ahead of election day.
According to him, the mock accreditation exercise served as a quality assurance test for INEC’s technological infrastructure and operational capacity under real-life voting conditions.
Amupitan disclosed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed effectively during the exercise, with both fingerprint and facial authentication reportedly completing voter verification within five to seven seconds on average.
He further stated that additional backup BVAS machines and technical support teams had been deployed across registration areas to quickly address any potential equipment failures.
“We did not want to speak from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja or rely solely on paperwork. We went to the theatre of operations to see for ourselves how our systems are performing,” he said.
“The mock accreditation is essentially to test our facilities, especially our technology, and ensure that everything required for the election is functioning optimally.”
“What we observed today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational.
”We have provided upgraded backup BVAS devices and deployed technical engineers across the state.
”Any malfunctioning device can be replaced within minutes,” he added.
Amupitan also reaffirmed INEC’s target of opening all polling units simultaneously at 8:30 a.m. on election day, directing electoral officers to ensure timely activation of polling stations and proper logistical coordination.
“The greatest threat we face is not technical failure but misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, manufactured election-day panic and unauthorised declaration of results are direct assaults on public peace and democratic stability,” he warned.
He stressed that misinformation remains a major challenge to electoral integrity, urging stakeholders to be cautious about unverified information during the electoral process.
