BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Festus Okoye, has reiterated INEC’s readiness to conduct free, fair, transparent, and credible elections with 19 days to D-day.
Okoye, who spoke after the successful conduct of the nationwide BVAS Mock accreditation, said the advent of the technology has put to rest identity theft.
Reacting to a report of a lady who was unable to be captured by BVAS though the name on the PVC was hers, Okoye said, “The lady in question is fair complexioned. The picture captured during registration is that of a dark-complexioned lady. No one can identify her with the picture. No one can identify the person on the register. The BVAS could not identify her 10 fingers. Someone registered for her. So there is the possibility that the name belongs to her but the fingerprints and image on the BVAS belong to another individual. All the observers agreed that she is not truthful. That is the power of the BVAS. Identify theft will not be allowed.
He also disclosed that on Election Day, the Commission deploys four ad-hoc staff to the Polling Unit. The Presiding Officer and Assistant President Officers one, two and three. They will be joined at the Polling Unit by unarmed security agents. The outer cordon may be manned by armed security agents and alternatively, the security agents may be patrolling.
“Sometimes, we have tense situations in Polling Units and sometimes the situation may be difficult to control. Some polling units are in difficult terrain. Some of them are in remote areas. Some of the polling units are in places that are not easily accessible. Some of the Presiding Officers will be struggling to control the crowd. Some of the security agents may be in a school with so many polling units and so many registered voters.
“The rational and reasonable thing to do in the circumstances is to advise the individual to exit the polling unit. The attention of the security agents will be drawn if such an individual becomes disruptive. In such circumstances, the security agents will devise strategies for taking the individual into custody for possible prosecution. The Commission will not want a situation of a complete breakdown of law and order in a polling unit. Each situation will be handled based on the specific issue at the polling unit.”
Fake news hinders turnout in Jos for BVAS mock accreditation
There was a low turnout at last Saturday’s mock accreditation of registered voters in Plateau State, following what the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Oliver Tersoo Agundu, termed fake news and misinformation to the public.
The Point observed that the machines were effectively capturing people’s data very fast, through fingerprints and facial pictures, except with a few cases of hitches. The hitches, according to the commission, were what it said it was out to look out for and put in order before the election day proper.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, earlier said that it will conduct a Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) mock accreditation of registered voters in selected 436 polling units (PUs) nationwide on February 4 as part of strategies to strengthen the usage of the machines.
Yakubu also said that 12 polling units were designated in each state of the federation and four in the FCT on the equality of the country’s 109 Senatorial Districts for the exercise.
Speaking with the media on the outcome of the exercise and explaining the reason for the low turnout in some states like Plateau according to reports he received, regardless of the misinformation the commission embarked on sensitization and other necessary measures to ensure the success of the exercise but discovered that the misinformation was that people were trying to vote ahead of time and that once one participated in the Saturday’s mock exercise, such person would not have the chance to vote in the actual election.
Confirming the reports, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the state, Oliver Agundu said, “Some also erroneously believed the choice of the selected areas for the mock accreditation was for negative reasons, saying why were other areas not chosen other than theirs. So, I feel that it was part of the interest they have more for the general elections that they don’t want any distraction with the mock exercise.
“However, it would be unfair to use what happened today to judge what may happen on the 25th of this month during the presidential election. We believe that people are so prepared for this election and we expect not less than 90 percent turnout on election day,” Agundu said.
Meanwhile, INEC officials overseeing the exercise at the ward, including the Electoral Officer of Jos North, Fred Ugboji, and another official, Karaya Ismail, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the machine.
They said each registrant was accredited in less than 30 seconds.
Contrary to speculations that the fear of unknown gunmen may hinder elections in the southeast, electorates trooped out in their numbers to participate in the BVAS Mock accreditation held on Saturday.
Voters in Anambra State who participated in the mock accreditation process have urged INEC to ensure that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS machines perform the way it worked on Saturday during the Mock accreditation on election days.
They made the call in Eziowelle, Udoka Primary School 11 and Aguleri 1, Okene Public Square when the Anambra REC, Queen Agwu, and her team visited the centres to monitor the progress of the mock accreditation going on in various centres in the State.
One of the voters, Edward Menkiti, said he was happy with the new technology as it would speed up the process on election days.
The Commission through its REC in the state reassured the electorates of their safety and called on them to come out enmasse on February 25th to vote for the candidates of their choice.
In Minna, INEC lured voters with incentives and bought soft drinks and processed water for accredited voters at most polling units visited.
Regardless of the incentives, voters failed to turn out in their numbers. The scarcity of redesigned naira notes did not help matters as some people were eagerly making money while others were at various long bank queues for new naira notes.
Prior to the Mock accreditation, social media was awash with stories of the need to reactivate Permanent Voters Cards obtained in 2011 as they may have expired.
This claim, however, has been laid to rest at Atuma Iga Primary School, Ogbe-Ani/Ajaji in Akwukwu in Oshimili North Local Government Area, whereby 9am, the accreditation already began.
One of the first to be accredited, Godwin Okafor, who was full of praises for INEC said the BVAS is an end to all sorts of electoral malpractice in Nigeria.
According to him, his PVC was gotten in 2011 and it didn’t waste time, unlike the rumours that 2011 cards had expired.
This, he said, has cleared his doubts and fear that he may not be able to exercise his civic responsibilities on election day.
In Abuja, the nation’s capital city, INEC Chairman was elated after witnessing the successes record during his visits to the venues. His visit to the polling centre in Post Office, Area 10, Garki Abuja brought joy and confidence that the Commission is on right track.
