Katsina residents confident of hitch-free election as INEC conducts mock accreditation

Citizens of Katsina State who participate in Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accredited to the voters has expressed optimism about the free presidential and national assembly elections on February 25.

Voters also said they believed the election would not be rigged.

The Chairman of INEC, Mahmoud Yakubu, said the mock accreditation would give the commission an opportunity to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) before deploying it for the actual elections in February and March this year.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters monitored the exercise in two polling units in the state from 08:57 to 01:27.

This reporter observed that there was a provision of security agents at the polling unit where the mock exercise was conducted in Katsina Local Government Area and INEC officials were at the designated point at the right time.

While three Hilux vans belonging to the police and customs were stationed at Shinkafi A Gezawa unit, this reporter saw four Hilux vans of the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps in Sabuwar Bakuru, Katsina local government area.

The exercise is scheduled to start at 8:30am and end at 2pm nationwide and in the two places we visited, this reporter gathered from residents that INEC officials were there at the appointed time even though they did not start the exercise until after. at 9 in the morning

In the two units, 170 people were successfully accredited while 12 were not arrested as of 1:25 p.m., some had facial problems, others had thumbprint problems.

Residents’ reaction

Umar Shehu, a resident of Shinkafi, said he was surprised by the efficiency of the system.

“I have participated in the voting process since 2003 and I will tell you this is the first time the machine has taken me without wasting much time,” the 41 year old commercial motorcyclist.

“It doesn’t take two minutes to complete the whole process.”

Mr. Shehu, who said he enjoyed participating in the mock exercise, said he hoped it would be as simple as this during the election.

Tumba Ali, another resident, also praised the ‘quickness’ of the exercise.

“I like how it turned out. I thought I would spend a lot of time here when I left the house. But I can see that it is very easy,” he said.

A community leader in Sabuwar Bakuru community, Bello Abdullahi, called on INEC to ensure that the same process is reflected in the general election.

“We thank God that voting is a civic duty and this exercise will give the public an opportunity to know whether they will participate in the election or not. Some people here are participating for the first time so we believe it is a good thing to come and practice the process, “he said.

Mr. Abdullahi said he was informed by “the government” that the intention was to test the “machinery” to avoid malpractices.

“We want these machines to be used in the elections so that our votes will be counted. Don’t come during the primary elections and start using some other thing and not the machines we see today.

Nasiru Shehu, a youth leader in Shinkafi A Gezawa, echoed the hopes of other residents praying that the process would be reflected in the general election.

The elderly woman, whose name is Indo, was not arrested by BVAS and she told PREMIUM TIMES that she was sad.

“But the boy (INEC official) said I should come back after thirty minutes to try to catch me again. He said my fingers are dirty or I have applied for henna. The camera also refused to catch me, but I have a card. Look,” he said.

Katsina INEC said

The Director, Voter Education and Publicity at Katsina State INEC office, Shehu Sa’idu, said the BVAS will be used for two main purposes in the general election.

He said the system will be used to accredit the voters and send the results to the main server.

“This system will be used in the current general election. We are doing this mock accreditation to prepare the voters and make further tests of the system. The system (BVAS) will be used to accredit the voters after the voters are given their ballots. We will also use them for transmission electronic results after processing. This is to ensure that no results are manipulated,” he said.

Mr. Sa’idu called on citizens to cooperate with officials before, during and after the election process to ensure efficiency.

Domestic observers, analysts say

A domestic observer, who is also the country coordinator of the Transmission Monitoring Group (TMG) Kamaludeen Kabir, praised the process.

He said that the situation room in the state capital did not receive major problems from observers sent to other regions.

Mr. Kabir, who oversaw the exercise in Katsina and Shinkafi, however, asked INEC to use ad-hoc staff trained during the general elections.

“The process is very efficient but it can be … because the officials used for mock accreditation are INEC staff. In many places, it takes ninety seconds to accredit voters. But during general elections, they have to use ad-hoc staff who can delaying the process because they are not staffed. So, we want them to use only well-trained ad-hoc staff to achieve their desired goals,” he said.

A political analyst, Saifullahi kuraye, said it was too early for anyone to praise INEC because the mock accreditation was well prepared and not conducted in all polling units.

“We have to wait for the primary election to give a verdict. For example, when you talk about the presence of security in the polling units, do you consider that the exercise was carried out in some selected units, which means that more security will be deployed in these units? During the general election, you will see two or three policemen in the polling unit.

“We also have to wait and see who will do the work. Some ad-hoc staff may not be well trained. So, they should use some ad-hoc staff in this exercise to also test their efficiency,” said Mr. Kuraye.