The 2023 general election marks a watershed in Nigeria’s political history, as for the first time, the country introduced technology to its voting system.
The February 25, Saturday’s polls presented an opportunity to try the novel initiative with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, machine, a technology many hope to give credence to the electoral process.
The amendment of the Electoral Act by the National Assembly gives the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the leverage to introduce more technology into the electoral process, and for the first time, the system was used across the country.
Already, many have judged this year’s election, the seventh in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, as relatively free and fair.
The senate president, Ahmed Lawan, after casting his vote at his Katuzu ward polling unit in Gashua in Yobe State, said the introduction of BVAS as allowed by the Electoral Act 2022 passed by the 9th National Assembly, is important for Nigerian democracy as the process cuts out any tendency for fraud and compromise.
According to Lawan, “It didn’t take me more than a minute to go through the BVAS accreditation process. It didn’t take me more than a minute to cast my vote. This is very important for our democracy in Nigeria because the process cuts out any tendency for compromise, for fraud, for multiple voting and so many other things.”
Inspite of these commendations, reports of violence at some polling units, technical hitches with the BVAS, snatching of ballot boxes and delayed transmission of voting results, and glitches with INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV, may have eroded some of the gains INEC should have boasted about in the latest election.
With 176, 964 polling units across Nigeria, issues of logistics and distribution of electoral materials still remains a huge challenge to the electoral umpire, as materials still arrived late at a number of polling units across the country despite earlier assurance by the commission.
For instance, at the Shettimari polling unit 001 in Lawan Bukar ward of Maiduguri metropolis, election officials were reportedly not on ground as at 10am when the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kashim Shettima, arrived to cast his vote.
There were reports of violence at multiple locations in Lagos, Rivers, Kogi, Enugu, Abuja and other places as thugs attacked polling units and destroyed election materials.
Though the movement from use of card readers to BVAS, is a welcome development that should be embraced by all, there is still room for improvement as the machine did not perform optimally in several polling units.
In Rivers State, Governor Nysome Wike expressed disappointment with the functionality of the BVAS machine deployed to his polling unit 7 in Ward 9 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, as the he could not be accredited for over 20minutes of trying.
Wike described the process as a failure and expressed fear that the failure of the machine could mar the election.
The commission late on Saturday evening, also threatened to cancel presidential election results at multiple locations including Kogi state.
Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Dr. Hale Longpet, while reacting to the crises that erupted in some polling units in Anyigba and Dekina in the Kogi East and Mopa in the Kogi West, as well as parts of Kogi Central, said, “You know the electoral Law says that where there is a disruption to the process, the result will be cancelled.”
Despite claims by the INEC that the 2023 election was going to be flawless, the contrary was the case.
The INEC had to postpone voting in some parts of Edo states and Lagos due to the omission of a political party’s logo on the ballot papers and violence and late arrival of materials.\
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, at a press conference in Abuja announced that the constituency election in Esan North, Esan South and Igueben would take place at a later date.
He said the Edo elections have been postponed to 11 March to hold alongside the Governorship and States Houses of Assembly elections.
Elections were also moved forward to Sunday, February 26th in 141 polling units in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, were elections were disrupted in Wards 4, 6, 8, and 14.
According to him, “So we met with security agencies and we’ve decided that voting in these 141 polling units where the materials are actually intact, will take place tomorrow morning. Remember, we’re not only doing presidential election, but we are also doing Senatorial and Federal constituencies.
“So it’s good to recover and conduct the elections so that we can conclude the processes. The youth corps members who are serving as presiding officers and other commission staff, are agreeable that the elections should hold tomorrow morning.”
He added that thugs attacked different polling units and that at least eight BVAS machines were stolen in different parts of the country, however backup BVAS machines were provided to ensure that the election was not totally disrupted.
With so much expectations on INEC, the commission has the critical task of restoring the people’s faith in democracy, which is why every improvement introduced to the electoral system should be seen to give credence to the process.
The inability of the BVAS to upload results in some polling units across the country negates the purpose it was meant to serve. INEC should therefore upload results timely and in real time too, so as not give room for suspicion.
And so, beyond embracing technology, the INEC needs to look towards improving on its infrastructure. The commission should also look beyond engaging professors to serve as Resident Electoral Commissioners and start deploying professionals to handle the logistics and distribution aspects of election.
INEC should be able to distribute and track voting material seamlessly through the use of technology as done by logistics companies.
While Nigerians await the final results of the presidential elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission must take note of the areas of improvement and begin to work towards achieving them in the interest of the country.
