The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday recorded a major hitch during its mock accreditation exercise ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election after the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines developed technical faults across the designated polling units.

The exercise, which commenced at about 8:00 a.m. in selected polling units across the state, was designed to test the functionality of the BVAS and assess the commission’s readiness for the forthcoming governorship election. Prospective voters had turned out with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to participate in the exercise.

However, the exercise was disrupted at about 9:36 a.m. when the BVAS machines reportedly stopped functioning simultaneously in the affected polling units.

The devices failed to recognise voters’ fingerprints, facial features and photographs despite their details being contained in the voters’ register, forcing the accreditation exercise to a halt.

The mock accreditation was conducted in 12 Local Government areas across Osun’s three senatorial districts. The selected councils were Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe in Osun Central Senatorial District; Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo in Osun West Senatorial District; as well as Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun in Osun East Senatorial District.

INEC had said the mock exercise was organised to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of the BVAS under conditions similar to those expected on Election Day. The commission also stressed that no voting would take place during the exercise, urging registered voters in the selected polling units to present their PVCs for accreditation.

Reacting to the development, the Public Relations Officer of the Osun State office of INEC, Mr. Dayo Olurode, confirmed the technical hitch, assuring that the commission’s technical team had immediately commenced efforts to resolve the problem.

“We have technicians working on it,” Olurode said, expressing optimism that the fault would be rectified to enable the exercise continue.

The mock accreditation forms part of INEC’s preparations for the August 15 governorship election, during which the commission is expected to deploy the BVAS for the accreditation of voters across all polling units in the state.

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