There is a need to put a stop to the idea of electors casting more votes in a contest than what is allowed, in order to enhance the integrity of elections in the country, Resident Electoral Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) , Osun state, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, has submitted.
Noting that since the Bimodal Voter’s Accreditation System (BVAS) stands as the only constitutionally recognized electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters, no contrary results can be declared apart from the figures therein contained.
The Osun state REC also added that saboteurs may compromise the use of BVAS by making it deviate from the intended purpose.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned Agboke, who said this while appearing as a guest on Rave FM’s ‘Frank Talk’ programme in Osogbo on Tuesday, added that there are regulations guiding the use of the machine in any election which must not be compromised for any reason.
Dr. Agboke also said Section (47), Sub-section (2) of the Electoral Act was clear enough as regard the deployment and the use of the BVAS machine to verify, accredit and authenticate voters and guarantee the integrity of elections.
‘Bimodal Voter’s Accreditation System (BVAS) is to accredit you, to authenticate you and it is to show that the person that wants to vote is the owner of the card. That is the number one function.
The second function is to take the image and the snapshot of the image on the report sheet. You don’t input figure into the BVAS, it is the image that will be transmitted to the election results portal for public viewing. That is for public to view the results from the polling units.
So, where the number of accredited voters is less than the number of the people that voted, it means somebody has allowed those who were not accredited to vote.
Where the votes are more than the accredited people in the BVAS, you have won zero votes. There shouldn’t be results in such a polling unit, that’s our regulation. What I mean is that where the number of those who have voted is more than the people accredited to vote, our regulation says it is zero votes that will be recorded there. There is no need for any discussion. We are not going to come back for anything because there is no basis for it.
Whether we like it or not, this technology is a game changer and we are going to showcase it here. We are going to see it in February. There is nothing that will be announced except from what is in the BVAS which will equal to the number of people that must have voted’ he added.
Agboke also described as untrue insinuations that the BVAS machine is a scam saying, ‘yes, it is human beings that are behind the use of the machine, but there is a regulation about how the machine should work. Human beings have the tendency to make the machine work differently, in other words, if they say the accreditation is by the BVAS, the number of accredited voters must be equaled to the votes.
‘As regard the insinuations that BVAS can be tampered with, vote rigging has been murdered by that technology. So there is no way you can do anything without BVAS, that is why we have beamed our searchlight on our people that will manage the machines, so that they will do the right thing according to the regulations. Anybody that does anything contrary shall not just be arrested but shall also be labelled as enemy of democracy in Nigeria.
There is nothing anybody can do without the machine. The machine has been programmed, no human interference can be allowed. But it is one thing for INEC to say use the machine for accreditation, and somebody can be harassed, can be threatened that you are not going to use the BVAS here, in such a situation, our regulation says ‘let them have their way’, when you come to the collation centre, that particularly place, where they did not allow you to use the BVAS, it is zero votes they will give them, that is the regulation, so, don’t say you are going to use violence because they do not to allow the use of BVAS.
Form EC8A is the results of the election. You will only enter results into the Form EC8A and cannot enter the results unless you have concluded the election. That means there is no manipulation anybody can do. The image of Form EC8A will be taken and it will be transmitted. There is a procedure. So, there is nothing anybody can do about that.
Internet is required for transmission, the internet is not required for accreditation and when you think there’s no effective network, INEC has partnered with the network providers to ensure that they do their part perfectly, when there is no network, our staff know what to do, they will move from wherever they may be to another place and get network and do the transmission, that is the procedure.
It does need to be at the polling units. Don’t forget the results must have been taken and displayed already, so, all the official needs to do is to look for network and do the transmission, so it is not necessary to get to the office before doing it, nothing will change that.
You cannot alter it. The fear of altering the figures, altering the results does not arise at all because the headquarters is monitoring whatever you are doing’ he added.
Dr. Agboke however reportedly declined to respond to callers’ questions seeking to know INEC’s position on the issue of synchronization, insisting that the matter is sub judice- Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
