The Independent National Electoral Commission has postponed the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 11 by one week.

The elections will now hold on March 18, 2023.

This was made known in a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Festus Okoye on Wednesday.

A state Resident Electoral Commissioner who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity also confirmed the decision.

The PUNCH had reported that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and his commissioners were in a closed-door meeting over the governorship election. The meeting commenced at 7pm on Wednesday.

The decision was reached after the meeting with the INEC chairman and his team.

The postponement is coming about three days before the March 11 date earlier scheduled for the state elections.

Consequently, all activities pertaining to the exercise are rescheduled, especially the states inspection of sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

INEC’s decision was due to the commission’s inability to earnestly commence reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines utilised during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections to enable their use in the state elections.

PUNCH