A lot of Nigerians are not pleased with the comments by the National Chairman of the All Progressives comments on Wednesday that he doubted if the introduction of BVAS for transmission of election in real time would produce credible elections in 2023. Coming ninety days to the 2023 general elections, it was a statement from
A lot of Nigerians are not pleased with the comments by the National Chairman of the All Progressives comments on Wednesday that he doubted if the introduction of BVAS for transmission of election in real time would produce credible elections in 2023.
Coming ninety days to the 2023 general elections, it was a statement from the blues which confirms previous speculations that the ruling party may be against the use of BVAS for accreditation of voters and Irev for the transmission of election results. Indeed, there were speculations that the election umpire boss’ work was on the cliff-hanger following his insistence to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS and the INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV.
The National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Abdullahi Adamu was reported to have told a Commonwealth delegation on the 2023 General Election in Abuja on Wednesday that he doubted if the introduction of BVAS for transmission of election in real time would produce free and fair elections in 2023. His words: To transmit results to all parts of the country, I’m not sure that the networks cover it; I know that even in parts of Abuja, there is no network and we have from now until February when in substantial parts of the country there is no electricity.
“INEC must assure us 100 percent that as of when they are due to transmit results, they are ready because they spoke about recharging batteries. But we had in previous elections when it said it couldn’t recharge”
The last election where there was a deployment of the use of BVAS and Irev was the governorship election in Osun state which was won by opposition PDP.
Also, APC National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Argungu said some BVAS machines’ batteries might not be recharged due to epileptic power supply.Their comments have triggered an avalanche of reactions from members of the Civil Society Organisations and opposition political parties in the country.
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The Convener, Disability Inclusion Nigeria and CEO/ Founder, The Albino Foundation, Mr. Jake Ekpelle said; “This is an undemocratic statement and should be totally ignored”.
Prominent civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), slammed the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu for giving flimsy, illogical, primitive and irrational excuses as reasons the Independent National Electoral Commission should not deploy the Bimodal Voter Registration System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal for the 2023 elections.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, said;”only corrupt politicians whose skewed victories are gotten through rigging and manipulation of the system are afraid of the electronic transmission of results for next year’s polls. HURIWA said that the attempt by some saboteurs to deploy all sorts of underhand tactics to get the Court to undermine the use of technology for the coming elections must be thwarted or else the stability of the nation may be imperiled and destroyed”.
The group said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has pledged to work with telecom operators to ensure network coverage all over the country to enable the electronic transmission of results like other parts of the world.
Onwubiko said; “The reasons given by the two APC exco are lame and untenable for the nation not to transmit 2023 elections results electronically. Obviously, politicians are threatened by the planned deployment of this technology because it will expose their shenanigans and electoral malfeasance perpetrated during elections over the decades.
“In advanced democracies, electronic transmission of results is a norm and without hassles. Why are politicians like Abdullahi Adamu afraid? After the NCC said it has the capacity to ensure nationwide uninterrupted telecom transmissions? HURIWA rejects the old order of manual recording of election results that allows for the manipulation of election outcomes.
“HURIWA also warns politicians like Adamu to stop mounting veiled pressure on INEC to jettison electronic transmission of results through the BVAS and IReV.
“Already, these desperate politicians whose lives are akin to rigging have gone to court to use the judiciary to stop their potential defeat that is inevitable with the deployment of BVAS and IReV in the 2023 elections. Now that their plot to use the court to stop the electronic transmission of election results has failed, they have resorted to covert pressure and threats. The electoral body should not hesitate to call out such politicians harassing it and report them to security agencies to deal with them decisively.
“BVAS’ stipulation in the Electoral Act of 2022 means it has come to stay and Adamu and his co-travellers should understand that quickly. It’s game over for election-riggers because BVAS guarantees the accreditation of voters through biometrics capturing, uploading of results amongst others! The BVAS, undoubtedly, is an upgrade of the smartcard reader deployed in the 2019 elections.
“INEC must remain unwavering in its resolve to deploy this technology. INEC should not cower to the inconsequential veiled pressure of Adamu and his co-travellers! It’s game over for them! Only the will of the Nigerian people will count in 2023!”
HURIWA, however , charged the Independent National Electoral Commission to eradicate the millions of child voters allegedly captured as legitimate voters in the recently publicised national voters register.
His words: “On no account should infants and toddlers be given permanent voters cards and the practice of letting children vote in elections as witnessed in Kano State in the last election must not be allowed just as HURIWA has asked for the arrest of the Kano State’s chairman of APC who was quoted as saying that All Progressives Congress will win in Kano State by hook or crook. The police in Abuja should arrest him and question him because he already has exposed the evil machinations that his party will bring to bear in the coming election and the police need not wait until the harm is done before acting”.
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), said the concerns raised by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the planned deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the 2023 general election, has confirmed its intelligence discovery that the ruling party was allegedly behind the move to sack the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
In a statement by the spokesman of CUPP, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the opposition political parties said the development, which is coming barely 90 days to the presidential election, has also confirmed the Coalition’s intelligence report that APC allegedly wanted to carry out digital vote buying in the 2023 elections.
The statement reads, “Technology keeps making it increasingly possible to reduce the contentious menace of electoral fraud and other forms of manipulation that has characterized our electoral system in times past. With the emergence of the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System, BVAS, which is replacing the Smart Card Readers used in previous elections, polls in Nigeria will now be better in credibility.
Dr.Ene Ede, Chief Facilitator, Equity Advocates said INEC should be allowed to do its job unhindered. While a concerned Nigerian who sought anonymity said the ruling All Progressives Congress’ call is like trying to change the goal post in the middle of a match.
