INEC Chairman: Delta’s Bye-election Was Historic With BVAS

•Says election credibility dependent on integrity of managers

•Charges new commissioners, REC not to compromise

Chuks Okocha

The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, yesterday, described as historic, a recent bye-election for Isoko South 1 State Constituency area of Delta State, using a new technology, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Yakubu, who hinted at this while swearing-in three national commissioners and a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), however, charged the new officers not to compromise their oaths office and adhere to the rule of law, because the credibility of any election was always to the extent of the integrity of the managers.

According to him, the commission piloted the BVAS during the Delta bye-election and it turned out a huge success.

“We introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for efficient human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters. The result of the pilot in the 84 polling units was very encouraging indeed.

“It took an average of just one minute for the device to correctly locate the voter in the system and another two minutes to authenticate a voter. In terms of the ruggedness of the device and its battery life, no single BVAS was replaced due to discharge of battery throughout the voting period. Most importantly, the device was able to guarantee the credibility of voter accreditation by preventing the incidents of multiple voting or the use of stolen PVCs to vote.

“All voters were accredited electronically using the BVAS. The use of the incident form was eliminated: The Isoko South 1 State Constituency bye election was historic in this respect,” he said.

He, however, acknowledged that there were a few challenges, which included “Matching the voter’s live image against the image on the register was difficult in a few instances due to the quality of pictures of some voters arising from previous registration.

“Secondly, some polling units were not bright enough when taking the photo for the facial authentication. Thirdly, there was the age-old problem of thuggery during elections.”

Nevertheless, he assured the people that the Commission would address the challenges, including the installation of a mechanism to disable and track the device in the event of theft by hoodlums

He explained that the mechanism would be activated ahead of the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election.

Telling the new national commissioners that the successes of the commission as election management body were due to adherence to the provisions of the law and its integrity as election managers, Yakubu said, “We must be strict in the application of the law, firm in handling the public trust bestowed on us and fair in our dealings with political parties and candidates.

“We must remember that in discharging our responsibilities, Nigeria and Nigerians must always come first. We must abide by our oaths of office to defend the choice made by Nigerians at the polls in all elections and continue to protect the sanctity of the vote without which democratic election is meaningless”

The INEC boss told the new commissioners and REC that they were coming on board just 52 days to a major election in Anambra State, because the election to choose a govermor for the state was scheduled to hold on Saturday November 6, 2021.

He further informed them that all the 18 political parties in Nigeria had elected to field candidates in the election and that campaigns had since commenced, adding that preparations were at an advanced stage with many of the activities outlined in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election already being implemented.

Yakubu told the new commissioners that the intention of the election management body was to keep deepening the credibility of the electoral process by improving on all planning, management, implementation and support processes through the deployment of appropriate technology.

The INEC boss told the new national commissioners that the task ahead was challenging butthat it was also a national call to service, urging them that it was important to quickly settle in and familiarise with the rules, procedures and responsibilities of their office.

“Let me reiterate once again that you should always bear in mind that a credible election draws heavily from the integrity of the election managers. I urge you to join us in raising the bar even higher,” he stated.

The new national commissioners were Professor Abdullahi Zuru, a Chemist and former Vice Chancellor of Kebbi State University and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto: Professor Sani Adam, a lawyer and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja; and Dr Baba Bila, a Chartered Accountant and former Bursar of the University of Benin.

Also sworn in was a new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Sa’idu Ahmad, a Professor of English Literature from Bayero University Kano. He filled the vacancy for Jigawa State, being the only State without a REC following the completion of tenure of Abdullahi Kaugama, an administrator, who had earlier served as secretary to the Commission.

Professor Ahmad was deployed as the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Zamfara State.