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By Romanus Ugwu, Okwe Obi, Abuja and Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has told Nigerians to expect an improved Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) for next month’s off-cycle governorship election in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states.
The commission hinged its assurance on the successful test-run of the technologies it deployed during the mock accreditation of voters in the three states, noting that it is yet to receive any adverse report on the exercise so far.
Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the commission, gave the promise in his remarks at the quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (NGOs) held in Abuja on Wednesday.
“As you are aware, the commission conducted a mock accreditation involving actual voters in designated polling units in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states two weeks ago. By doing so, we tested the efficacy of the BVAS for both biometric authentication of voters and the upload of results to the IReV.
“Some of you observed the mock accreditation exercise and viewed the results on the IReV portal. We have received no adverse report so far. By this, we are encouraged that the test was successful, and we look forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in the forthcoming governorship elections and beyond,” Yakubu assured.
Talking to the CSOs, the electoral umpire boss said: “Election is a multi-stakeholder activity. In discharging our responsibilities, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders. One of such engagements is with the security agencies.
“In previous elections, civil society organisations have expressed concern about the safety of persons involved in elections as well as the protection of the process, including polling units and collation centres.
“Similarly, civil society organisations have on several occasions urged the commission to intercede with the security agencies to grant you unimpeded access to voting and collation locations.
“I want to reassure you that we will continue to do so as we engage with the security agencies both at the national level and in the three states. At the same time, I wish to remind all accredited observers to strictly adhere to the code of conduct for election observation. Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi Governorship elections are critical to the commission,” he said.
“The focus of this meeting is on the three off-cycle governorship elections. I am glad to note that many of you are deploying teams of observers for the three elections. Overall, the commission has accredited 145 organisations deploying 7,896 observers.
“In the next few days, accredited organisations will be invited to collect the identity cards for their observers,” he disclosed.
