The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Adeniran Tella, said on Friday, that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, cannot be released to the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, OYSIEC, for the conduct of the local government elections scheduled for April 27.

Tella stated this in Ibadan while speaking to NAN on the sidelines of the quarterly consultative meeting with civil society organisations in the state.

He said BVAS contained sensitive data on voters, adding that it was the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that BVAS should not be released for local government elections.

“What OYSIEC needs for the election is the voter register and this has been given to them. The voter register will allow the state electoral body to know the number of registered voters and those who are eligible to cast their votes during the elections.

“But BVAS is meant for the general elections and they are sensitive devices that we can not afford to toy with,” he said.

Tella, while addressing representatives of over 25 civil society organisations at the consultation meeting, reassured that INEC would continue to partner with them to enable them to play vital roles in ensuring free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible elections.

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