The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will on Friday conduct a mock accreditation exercise in Ekiti State as part of preparations for the June 20 governorship election.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Ado Ekiti on Monday.

According to him, the exercise will take place in one local government area from each of the state’s three senatorial districts and is aimed at testing the effectiveness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to be deployed for the election.

“We are going to have a mock accreditation on Friday. It is part of the preparedness programme by the INEC chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan,” Omoseyindemi said.

“We are going to choose some local governments; it is the chairman who will decide based on his consideration, but it’s going to be one per senatorial district.”

He explained that the exercise would help the commission identify and address any technical or operational challenges before election day.

“The mock accreditation is to check the effectiveness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines that would be used for the election,” he said.

Omoseyindemi noted that any shortcomings observed during the exercise would be corrected promptly.

“Prevention is better than cure. We are trying to be proactive and know the challenges that we could have ahead of time. That is our level of preparedness,” he added.

The REC also announced that the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would continue until Thursday and urged registered voters who are yet to collect their cards to do so before the deadline.

He emphasized that possession of a PVC remains a prerequisite for participation in the June 20 governorship election.