The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that it will deploy no fewer than 8,500 Bimodal Verification Accreditation System machines for the upcoming re-rerun and by-elections scheduled to take place on February 3, 2024.
This was disclosed in a document posted by INEC on its official X handle.
The elections will be conducted in a total of 8,890 polling units across the country.
The breakdown reveals that the by-elections will be held in nine states, covering 4,294 polling units, while rerun elections will take place in 4,596 polling units.
The senatorial districts where elections will be held include Ebonyi South in Ebonyi State and Yobe East in Yobe State. For the state constituencies, elections will be conducted in Chibok State Constituency in Borno State, Chikun State Constituency in Kaduna State, and Guma State Constituency in Benue State.
Furthermore, elections will be held in federal constituencies, which include Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency in Ondo State, Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency in Taraba State, Surulere 1 Federal Constituency in Lagos State, and Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski Federal Constituency in Kebbi State.
The court-ordered re-run elections will take place in 4,596 polling units, and will cover one senatorial district, Plateau Central, and 12 federal constituencies.
Among the federal constituencies affected are Surulere 1 in Lagos, Gauri/Shanta/Ingaski and Arewa/Dandi in Kebbi, Akoko North-East/North-West in Ondo, Jalingo/Yorro/Zing in Taraba, Ikono/Ini in Akwa Ibom, and Akamkpa/Biase in Cross River State.
Other federal constituencies include Nnewi North/Nnewi South and Orumba North/Orumba South in Anambra, Igbo Eze North/Udenu in Enugu, Birnin Kudu/Buji in Jigawa, Igabi and Kachia/Kagarko in Kaduna, Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa in Katsina, Jos North/Bases in Plateau, and Fine/Fune in Yobe.
Additionally, senatorial elections will be held in Yobe-East and Plateau Central as a result of court orders.
The state level elections will fill vacant positions in Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto, Zamfara, Benue, and Borno states.
A total of 4,567,689 eligible voters are expected to participate in the elections across the 8,890 polling units on February 3, 2024.
INEC plans to provide at least one BVAS machine per polling unit, along with backup BVAS machines, to ensure a smooth electoral process.
The final list of candidates will be published on January 17, with the campaign set to commence on January 18 and conclude on February 1.
