The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections by one week, FIJ has learnt.

A source close to the commisison made the confirmation to FIJ on Wednesday evening, saying the exercise, originally slated for March 11, will now hold on March 18.

As of press time, Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, was in a meeting in its headquarters in Abuja to discuss the election, amongst other matters.

FIJ’s source said the commission decided to postpone the exercise as it was yet to reconfigure BVAs, and plan adequately for logistics and transportation.

Earlier, INEC had prayed the Court of Appeal in Abuja to vary its order granting Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and Atiku Abubakar, People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate, access to election materials as the commission had to reconfigure the BVAs ahead of the Saturday polls.

INEC is yet to make a statement on the matter as of press time. FIJ also understands that the BVAS take an average of five days to configure, making it impossible for INEC to be ready for Saturday’s election even if it started today after the court order.