The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, revealed on Friday that the commission has mapped out security concerns ahead of the governorship election in Ekiti State. They found about 469 polling units among the total 2,445 in the state that could be potential trouble spots.
Mr Amupitan shared this information on Friday evening in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during a meeting with media executives.
INEC is set to hold the off-cycle governorship election on Saturday, June 20.
Mr Amupitan, who is also a professor, mentioned that the findings have been communicated to security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). This has led to plans for more security personnel to be deployed in the areas identified as vulnerable.
He also said that INEC has set up communication channels, including a special platform for reporting incidents. This will help quickly send any security issues from polling units to the right authorities.
He assured voters, political parties, and other stakeholders that INEC is ready for the election. He confirmed that all arrangements are in place to ensure a peaceful, fair, and credible voting process.
Earlier, Mr Amupitan led a team with National Commissioners, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the administrative secretary, directors, technical aides, and senior officials for an inspection of the mock accreditation exercise in selected polling units across the state. He said this exercise showed that INEC is prepared for the election.
According to him, the mock accreditation was created to check the commission’s technology and operational capacity under real conditions before election day.
Mr Amupitan stated that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) worked well during the exercise, with fingerprint and facial checks taking between five and seven seconds for each voter.
He mentioned that INEC has sent extra backup BVAS devices and technical support staff to all Registration Areas. This is to ensure that any equipment problems can be quickly fixed.
"We have worked closely with the police, DSS (SSS), Civil Defence, and other security agencies. Our priority is to keep voters, election officials, journalists, and observers safe during the election process.
"We did not want to discuss everything from an air-conditioned office in Abuja or depend only on paperwork. We went to the ground to see how our systems are performing. The mock accreditation was to test our facilities, especially our technology, and make sure everything for the election is working well.
"What we saw today confirms that our technological measures against identity theft and result manipulation are strong and fully operational. We have provided upgraded backup BVAS devices and sent technical engineers across the state. Any faulty device can be replaced in minutes," he said.
Mr Amupitan explained that the commission aims to open all polling units at the same time. He noted that their biggest worry is not technical issues but misinformation.
"Our goal is to ensure that all 2,445 polling units open at 8:30 a.m. on election day. We have instructed electoral officers to make sure polling units are ready and that all logistics are set up before the election day.
"The greatest threat we face is not technical failure but misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, unnecessary panic on election day, and unauthorized announcement of results are serious threats to public peace and democracy," he said.
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