By David Lawani
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has disclosed that it will not relent in the improvement of BVAS in verifying and confirming the authenticity of any voter during the 2023 general election saying the Commission will not travel backwards after it has secured gains since it deploys the use of technology for elections management.

In a paper presented by Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner &
Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Independent National Electoral Commission, at a workshop for selected journalists, organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organisation, at Well Carlton, Abuja noting that the Commission is keen in expanding the training of ad-hoc staff who will be required to deliver on their duty.

Okoye said further that On the 25th day of February 2020, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria assented to the Bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act No. 6 2010 and enact Electoral Act, 2022, to regulate the conduct of the Federal, State and Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory elections, and for related matters.

According to him: ” The Commission will continue to use the BVAS to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of an intending voter. The BVAS is the new enemy of those engaged in identity theft and multiple voting as it verifies either the finger print or facial of the intending voter. Those that warehoused PVCs, the Consultants and Middlemen that design how to undermine the electoral process and those that hawk and distribute PVCs are now canvassing for the return to incident forms and manual voting.

” The Commission will not travel backwards but will continue to improve on its technological base and innovations. The Commission will continue to work with security agencies to protect our equipment and personnel. With the BVAS and the uploading of polling unit level results, violence has left the Collation Centers and reverted back to the polling units.

” The Commission will expand the base of the training of its ad-hoc staff to acquaint them more with the workings of the BVAS and other technological innovations of the Commission”, he said.

He maintained that, the 2023 general election will be conducted using the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(as amended); the Electoral Act, 2022; the Regulations, Guidelines and manuals developed by the Commission pursuant to the new Electoral Act, 2022, adding that the Commission has learnt valuable lessons from the 2019 general election.

“The Commission learnt valuable lessons from the 2019 general election. The Commission also analyzed the election and came to terms with some of the challenges of the said election and the subsequent off-season and bye-elections. The Commission has also designed strategies and mechanisms of overcoming some of the identified challenges”.

On the issue of the challenge of voters register, he said the Commission has continued to register more but state there are still areas that are inaccessible.

“The Commission has embarked on the Continuous Voter Registration (“CVR”) Exercise. There are so many communities that are still inaccessible to our registration officers. The Commission has further devolved the CVR to our registration areas on a rotational basis. The Commission is determined to register all eligible registrants but will not expose its staff to unnecessary danger. The Commission will roll out and roll back depending on the security situation in different parts of the country. However, the issue of multiple and double registration has been a huge challenge in the Commission”.

Also on multiple registrants, Okoye reiterated that those who have lost their PVCs rather apply decided to register afresh are in violation of the provision of the Electoral Act.

“Those that have lost their Permanent Voters Cards (“PVCs”), rather than apply for a new one, “ignorantly” register afresh in violation of the law. Those with PVCs that are defaced or damaged simply apply for new ones. Some that are on transfer or want to transfer their voting locations simply apply for a new one. All these are in violation of the law and the Commission does not have the capacity to prosecute all the violators and I am sure that the country does not have enough correctional facilities to house the large number of violators”.

He said the Commission is prepared and willing to face the challenges facing the deployment of technology in elections stressing that INEC has made room for physical and online portal through which registrants can fill in their details and will be duly captured.

His words: ” Rolling out a new technology has its own challenges. As some of you are aware, the Commission has introduced new and creative changes in the enumeration of voters; the party nomination processes and the conduct of elections. The Commission is currently conducting the CVR both physically and online using the new INEC Voter Enrolment Device (“the IVED”). The Commission has introduced an online nomination portal through which Political Parties upload the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates.

“The Commission has also introduced an online portal through which international and domestic observers and the media apply for accreditation. The Commission introduced the INEC Result Viewing Portal (iRev) through which polling unit level results are uploaded to a result viewing portal in real time. The Commission has also introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (“the BVAS”) for voter accreditation and authentication. The Commission is firmly of the view that greater use of technology in the electoral process will to a large extent reduce human interference in the voting, counting and collation process.

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“Sections 47(2) of the Electoral Act secures the place of the Smart Card Reader or other Technological Device in the Electoral Process while section 50(2) of the Act gives the Commission the discretion to determine the mode of voting and transmission of results. The Commission had setbacks with the BVAS during the Anambra Governorship election and the FCT Area Council Elections and the BVAS performed well during the 6 bye-elections conducted by the Commission in four States of the Federation on the 26th day of February 2022.

“However, the Commission is conscious of the fact that technology does not operate itself and that the human element is ever present. The Commission will continue to learn from issues and challenges that arise from the deployment of technology and will continue to innovate and improve on them.

“The Commission acknowledges the fact that the BVAS did not perform optimally in the FCT Area Council election and took all the criticisms on board and made necessary corrections and adjustments. This accounts for the optimal performance of the BVAS in the six bye-elections conducted by the Commission in four states of the Federation on the 26th of February 2022”, he said.