Ekiti Poll: INEC Identifies 469 Potential Flashpoints Ahead of Governorship Election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified 469 polling units across Ekiti State as potential flashpoints ahead of next Saturday’s governorship election, prompting enhanced security arrangements in the affected areas.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this during an interactive session with media executives in Ado-Ekiti on Friday following the commission’s inspection of a mock accreditation exercise conducted across selected polling units.

According to him, the identified flashpoints represent a fraction of the state’s 2,445 polling units and were flagged following extensive security mapping carried out by the commission ahead of the June 20 election.

Amupitan said the findings had already been shared with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), enabling authorities to develop targeted deployment plans.

“We have worked closely with the police, DSS, Civil Defence and other security agencies. Our priority is to ensure that voters, election officials, journalists and observers are safe throughout the electoral process,” he said.

The INEC chairman explained that the mock accreditation exercise was designed to test the commission’s operational readiness and technological infrastructure under real field conditions.

According to him, results from the exercise showed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed effectively, with fingerprint and facial verification taking between five and seven seconds per voter.

“What we observed today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational,” Amupitan stated.

He revealed that additional backup BVAS machines and technical support teams had been deployed across registration areas to quickly address any equipment failures on election day.

The INEC chairman said the commission’s objective is to ensure the simultaneous opening of polls across all 2,445 polling units by 8:30 a.m.

“Our goal remains the simultaneous opening of polls in all polling units at exactly 8:30 a.m. on election day,” he said.

Amupitan, however, warned that misinformation and disinformation remain the greatest threats to the electoral process.

“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 said.

He reassured political parties, voters and election observers that INEC had concluded all necessary logistical and operational arrangements to ensure a peaceful, transparent and credible election.