As preparations for the conduct of the general elections continue, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bauchi State has assured that it is ready for the presidential and National Assembly elections coming up on 25th of February.
The State INEC office therefore organized a one day stakeholders meeting on BVAS to acquaint the elections participants.
The Bauchi State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Mohammed B. Nura while speaking, said that the aim of the meeting was to discuss and brainstorm on the roles of BVAS in the conduct of the general elections.
According to him, following the enactment of the new Electoral Act 2022, INEC has strengthened the use of new technologies and online resources to ensure transparency and acceptability of its process.
He also said that, “These have tested during the off-season gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states as well as other bye-elections, where the citizens applauded the Commission for ensuring that the votes of the people counted.”
Mohammed Nura also explained that the Bio-Model Voter Accreditation System (B-VAS) is one of the new technologies to be deployed for accreditation through fingerprint or facial recognition.
He further stated that after election at polling unit, it will be used to snap the result sheet (forms EC&A) for upload to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) for the public.
According to him, “At the Registration Area /Ward Collation Center, the Collation Officer will compare the data of accredited voters on the B-VAS with the votes cast to ensure that votes are equal or less than the accredited voters, the election becomes invalid.
The REC disclosed that INEC is making arrangement to conduct Mock Accreditation to test run the BVAS in 12 polling units in six Registration Areas/Wards across the three Senatorial zones located in Bauchi, Darazo, Katagum, Ningi, Toro and Zaki LGAs on 4th February, 2023.
Mohammed Nura added, “This exercise will give voters the opportunity to confirm their eligibility to vote during the 2023 general elections and all stakeholders are invited to witness the event.
The stakeholders meeting witnessed the presence of security personnel, politicians, local and international NGOs, religious bodies, traditional rulers and NURTW with the theme: “No PVC No Voting”.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
