INEC Boss Claims BVAS Recorded 98 percent Success During 2023 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to conduct bye-elections in four federal and state constituencies across the country. This followed the resignation of a federal lawmaker and the deaths of another federal lawmaker-elect as well as two state lawmakers, as the electoral body says the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) technology used in the 2023 elections recorded a 98 per cent success rate.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmuod Yakubu who stated this on Tuesday while addressing the Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) of all the states of the federation said BVAS technology deployed for the elections showed a significant progress of 98 per cent success rate compared to the 29.2 per cent of the Smart Card Readers in the previous 2019 general elections.

BVAS is the machine used to accredit voters using their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and fingerprints or face recognition technology. “Our records show that the success rate for BVAS accreditation stands at 98% compared to the Smart Card Reader’s 29.2% during the 2019 General Election,” he said.

Prof. Yakubu added that the commission is looking at all the evidence of infractions during the election, including prosecuting offenders.

The meeting with the RECs is the first of the activities to review the 2023 general elections held on 25 February and 18th March and supplementary elections in some constituencies on 15 April. According to him, the review will focus on all aspects of the electoral activities before, during and after the elections. At the end of the internal review and stakeholder engagement, the INEC boss said the commission would publish a comprehensive report. He added that the commission had received reports from 54 accredited national and international observers.

The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).“Barely a few weeks after the inauguration of the National and State Houses of Assembly, we are already confronted with four bye-elections as a result of resignation,” he said.

“We will give equal prominence to all the reports and review them in a holistic manner to ensure that necessary lessons are learnt from their conclusions and recommendations. As a Commission, we hope to continue to count on the support of stakeholders to improve the electoral process in Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking on the bye-elections slated for this year, the INEC boss said this followed the resignation of a federal lawmaker and the deaths of another federal lawmaker-elect as well as two state lawmakers.

According to Prof. Yakubu ,the constituencies where elections will be conducted include Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State where the elected lawmaker, a former speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, resigned to take up the position of the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Another affected constituency is the Jalingo, Yerro, and Zing Federal Constituency of Taraba State. The member-elect for the constituency,Alhaji Isma’ila Maihanchi, died on 22 April before he was inaugurated.

According to him,the other constituencies are Chibok Constituency of Borno State and Chikun Constituency of Kaduna State.

The member representing Chibok in the Borno House of Assembly, Mr. Nuhu Clark, died on 12 April while undergoing treatment in India.

Also, the member representing Chikun in the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Garba Madami, died on 17 June, a few days after inauguration of the assembly.

He said the commission will also conduct three off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states, all of which are scheduled for 11 November.

The three are among the eight states where governorship elections are not held alongside other states due to previous litigations that unseated some candidates. The other states are Anambra, Osun, Ekiti, Edo and Ondo states.

Prof. Yakubu said INEC would soon commence the regular stakeholder engagement ahead of the off-cycle elections. “We have already published the final list of candidates for the elections and campaign in public officially commenced on 14th June 2023,” he said. “The Commission will soon commence the regular stakeholder engagements ahead of the elections.”