INEC, Voters express satisfaction with mock accreditation in FCT

Citizens and District Officials Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who participated in the mock accreditation exercise in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has expressed satisfaction with the process.

INEC has scheduled mock accreditation for February in selected polling units in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to better familiarize voters with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machine and increase voter confidence in the commission’s activities.

While overseeing the exercise in some areas of the Federal Capital Territory, the Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, a professor, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the BVAS machines.

The purpose of conducting the mock accreditation is to further confirm the performance of BVAS machines, he said.

Mr. Yakubu, who visited some polling units, stated that the commission had not received any report of failure of accreditation.

“In the two polling units that have been opened so far, there have been no reports of failure; the machines have performed optimally and this is the report we have received so far, nationwide,” he said.

“We have also made contingency arrangements as we will do on Election Day, if there is a spare machine if there is one, and if there is a breakdown, we will be able to respond and repair the machine.”

Mr. Yakubu explained that from the mock exercise he saw, it took less than 30 seconds to accredit voters, adding that this is the report INEC received from all the polling units elected nationwide.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who monitored the exercise at various polling units in the FCT observed low turnout for the mock accreditation.

Those who spoke, however, expressed confidence in BVAS and noted that the process was fast.

Abuja Municipal Area Council

At about 12:00, Chris Nwuani tried to get accredited at the Area 10 polling unit.

Although it was not a polling registration unit, Mr Nwani said he wanted to be sure about INEC’s claim that the machine would only accredit individuals in registered polling units.

“This is not my polling unit,” he said. “But I came to try to see correctly what I have heard about BVAS and others. I got here and from the beginning they checked and they told me that my number is not here. But one of the supervisors said that they should try if BVAS will accept or no.So when I checked, BVAS said no, that information can’t be found here.

When BVAS failed to accredit him, it accredited other voters from Area 10 polling unit, he said.

INEC officials at the polling unit told journalists that they had accredited eight people as of 12:00. There are a total of 2052 registered voters in the polling unit, an official said.

This experience, Mr. Nwani said, increased his confidence that BVAS “is active enough to identify every eligible voter.”

“There is no way BVAS will not identify the voters,” one official who is the Presiding Officer of the Area 10 polling unit told reporters.

He said that the BVAS will identify the voter through ten fingers, and if that fails, the BVAS operator will use the facial recognition feature to identify the voter.

Wari Regional Council

In Esu Palace (Sa-Bwaya), Bwari Area Council,l Abuja, a total of 36 people were accredited out of 1,799 total registered voters in the ward, according to the electoral officer, Gloria Stephens.

The election officer who described the mock accreditation went smoothly, said the exercise started at about 8:30am.

“The process has been smooth, I must say, we have been able to use two BVAS to accredit 36 ​​people so far and the network is good in this area.

“The number of registered voters is 1,799. We hope for more,” he said.

At the Center, there is a group of international Observers such as NDI to monitor the accreditation process.

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There are also a total of three political agents: the ruling APC, and the main opposition parties, PDP and ADC.

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.