INEC chairman at Chatham House, speaks on use of technology during polls

Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC, said it will use a number of technological tools to predict and reduce election violence, verify political party spending and monitor election materials from procurement through storage to delivery.

INEC The chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this while speaking on the commission’s preparations towards the upcoming state general election in less than 40 days at Chatham House on Tuesday.

The presidential and National Assembly elections were held on February 25 while the governorship and State Assembly elections were held on March 11.

The Commission has repeatedly said that it is ready to hold elections and does not expect any changes in the schedule of scheduled activities.

Apart from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portals that will be used in the accreditation of voters and view the results during the election, Mr. Yakubu listed other technologies that the commission will implement to ensure reliable and transparent elections.

Election Operations, Procurement and Logistics

INEC has developed an Android and web Logistics Management System to monitor the movement of election materials from procurement through storage to delivery, Mr. Yakubu said.

He said that the commission, for the first time, has a comprehensive Election Logistics Framework (ELF) “to guide the logistics for general elections from planning, through deployment to collection. This is the first deployment of an end-to-end logistics framework for elections.

He added that the commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the road transport umbrella body and the maritime union to ensure smooth and safe delivery of materials before, during and after the elections.

This, he said, is to overcome all bottlenecks found to ensure more efficient and timely delivery of materials to polling units.

Violence Mitigation and Risk Management Tools

With increased attacks on commission facilities and insecurity in areas of the country, Mr. Yakubu said the commission and partners have developed the Electoral Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT) and the Electoral Risk Management Tool (ERM).

While EMVAT is a research and diagnostic tool to predict and mitigate electoral violence before elections, ERM said it tracks and reports general risks to elections.

“There is no doubt that violence and the threat of violence is a major challenge for credible elections in 2023,” he said. “In all, we are confident in the actions we have taken and the collaboration with the security agencies. The 2023 elections will be held as planned. There are no plans to postpone the elections.

Campaign Finance and Vote Buying

Political parties have in the past exploited INEC’s ‘delayed and disorganized’ framework to audit campaign finances, to breach campaign funding and spending limits provided by law, he said.

---

Also read: 2023: Wike promises Peter Obi “logistical support”

---

To strengthen the mechanism, Mr. Yakubu said INEC has developed a web-based application, the Political Party Financial Reporting and Audit System (PFRAS), for political parties to submit their expenditures for verification.

“We will distribute it soon and will train our staff and political parties on its use,” he said.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented new journalists to report on issues that are not being covered around the world.