SIR: The Electoral Act, 2022, is designed to protect the electoral process from predatory politicians (who have hijacked our elections and taken political office as their birthright, regardless of their performance and have opened the country to the brink) people can freely choose leaders who can trust with the social contract.
The game changer and soul of the Act is the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) technology and protocol, to accredit voters and upload polling data to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) directly from the polling unit – as stated in section 60 Subsection 5 of the Act – the law – that every voter with biometric accreditation has voted and the ballot is counted, approved and signed by all parties, in the spotlight of the voters, leaving no room for external influence, infiltration or other manipulation.
The uploaded data is the final arbiter in the event of a dispute, as in Section 64 Subsections 5 and 6 of the Act, which reads: “Subject to Paragraph (1) the billing officer or return officer will use the accreditation number. the voter records and sent directly from the polling unit according to Section 47 (2) of this Act and the votes or results recorded and sent directly from the polling unit according to Section 60 (4) of this Act to collect and announce the election results…”
Thus, the integrity of any result announced by INEC is in agreement with the polling data transferred directly from the polling unit to IReV, which pleases the collective witness of INEC officials, party agents and voters, with each agent keeping a copy of the return for party records.
This means that the election is incomplete when the results are not sent, leaving room for external influence and manipulation, apparently, for the predetermined winner, as happened in the presidential election of February 25, 2023.
It happened that INEC uploaded the National Assembly poll data directly from the polling unit but failed to upload the presidential data, due to technical reasons.
The foundation of democracy is the power in the freedom of the people to choose their leaders and change the government, to achieve prosperity and a better life. Once that freedom is hijacked, rendering them powerless, you can no longer talk about democracy or corporate prosperity.
This consequence can be arrested by allowing the Electoral Act and technology to run freely to satisfy the anxious youth whose future is most at stake.
Aggrieved parties should not be prevented from going to court to determine.
• Emma Nwosu