2023 ELECTIONS: INEC Reveals It’s Plan B Incase BVAS Fails | READ DETAILS

2023 ELECTIONS: INEC Reveals It’s Plan B Incase BVAS Fails | READ DETAILS

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has waved off fears of some voters not being able to get accredited to vote and results not being uploaded directly on it’s server owing to predicted failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Speaking on Channels TV’s programme “Sunday Politics” Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, said they have made provisions for spare BVAS in each polling units and has also trained technical support staff that can also intervene if there are challenges with the BVAS  on election days.

In Okoye’s words;

“For each electoral ward, we are going to have some spare BVAS to be deployed speedily if there is any issue or any challenge in any of our polling units. We have also trained technical support staff that can also intervene if there is any challenge with the BVAS.

“But if there is sustained malfunction of the BVAS up to the time of the closing of the poll, the Electoral Act demands that we should undermine voting in that particular polling unit and repeat voting within 24 hours”.

“In terms of any politician bypassing the BVAS, I want to tell you that that will not happen, that is an impossibility”.

“Anybody who is purchasing a permanent voter card is just engaging in an exercise in futility. The only thing any person can do is to make sure the voter does not vote on election day but for you to come to the polling unit on election day with a voter’s card belonging to someone else, and you attempt to vote with it, that is an impossibility, the BVAS will not capture your fingerprint,” Okoye said.

He added that the Commission has removed polling units sited close to the houses of politicians, traditional rulers, shrines and other locations not conducive for a free and fair election.

“We removed polling units from the palaces of traditional rulers, we removed polling units that are near the homes of politicians, we removed polling units that are in shrines, we also removed polling units from places we consider not conducive for electoral business” Okoye said.