By Igho Akeregha
Following the shock and disbelief that trailed the failure of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) during last Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, ThisNigeria exclusively gathered yesterday that the technology may have been deliberately sabotaged by some powerful interests.
Highly placed sources within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and others in Abuja, who spoke on the development and pleaded not to be mentioned, disclosed that the BVAS technology was tested a few days before the election and it worked perfectly.
The Commission, it was learnt, was shocked that it did not foresee any hitch to the deployment of the BVAS which was used successfully for the first time in the country to conduct the Isoko South constituency bye-elections in Delta State.
Although, the sources gave various reasons for the alleged sabotage of the BVAS, however, a source in the commission was emphatic that there might be some powerful forces in the National Assembly and parts of the country who did not want the voter enhancement technology to be used for elections in the country, particularly for the 2023 general elections.
Asked why anyone would be interested in sabotaging the smooth conduct of elections in the country, the source said: “If you want to know the answer, ask those who have been voting against the deployment of electronic transmission of election results in the National Assembly for their reasons”.
Another source disclosed that the use of the BVAS would expose so many ugly and dirty dealings that have been the hallmark of elections in Nigeria. From election rigging and manipulation of figures to population and demographic claims, the source maintained that with the use of the device, the days of election rigging are over.
The sources commended the courage of the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who they said insisted and defended the deployment of the technology in deepening democracy and guaranteeing the credibility of elections in the country.
Already, the INEC is said to have immediately begun a secret probe of why the technology failed in most parts of Anambra State last Saturday, forcing the commission to shift voting to the following day to capture thousands of voters who could not cast their votes on the first day.
It was gathered that the probe would be far-reaching as the commission’s staffers in the IT department and other field officers were said to be jittery over the outcome of the probe.
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The BVAS device is used for accreditation, authentication of voters through fingerprints and photographs to ensure the validity of votes cast.
