There are “orchestrated plans” by some persons to cause a total breakdown of law and order and disrupt the scheduled elections in parts of the Federation, the Department of State Services (DSS) has said. 

DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, in a statement on Wednesday, however, warned the individuals or groups no matter how highly placed they are to abort such plans.

The secret service therefore cautioned political players to be law-abiding as Nigerians head to the polls for the governorship and state assemblies’ elections.

The DSS said it is committed to the safety and security of citizens who may wish to go out to exercise their civic responsibility.

“All and sundry are, therefore, enjoined to abide by the rules of engagement particularly the Electoral Act and extant guidelines,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the governorship and state house of assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 11.

In a statement on Wednesday night, INEC spokesman, Festus Okoye, said the elections will now hold on Saturday, March 18.

He said following the ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the February 25 presidential election, the Commission met to assess its impact on its preparations for the governorship exercise.

“The Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023,” he said.

According to Okoye, political parties will continue their campaigns until midnight of Thursday, 16th March 2023 – 24 hours before the new date for the election.

Okoye stated that though the tribunal’s ruling would enable INEC to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the governorship and state assembly elections, it is too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.

“This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections. This has been the practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using Smart Card Readers.

“However, we wish to reiterate that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials. Consequently, it will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court,” he added.

See the full statement below: