The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it has found appropriate technology to address the incessant failure of Smart Card Reader during elections.
Speaking at the third quarterly meeting with political parties, the National Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said the Commission attempted introducing the facial biometric authentication during accreditation of the voters using the Z-Pad tablet to complement the fingerprint process through the Card Reader before the Edo Governorship election last year, but jettisoned the decison as it was not satisfied with its performance at the pilot programme in Nasarawa state.
He said after working on the Z-pad in the past one year, its functionality has been integrated into the INEC Voter Enrollment Device, IVED, currently used for registration to also on Election Day, be used for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, that is, for fingerprint authentication during accreditation where it fails for facial authentication.
According to the Chairman, the multi-layer process will eliminate the possibility of voting by identity theft or using another person’s PVC which means that if a voter fails both fingerprint and facial authentication, he/she will not be allowed to vote to further guarantee the credibility of voter authentication and transparent management of results during elections.
He stated that the physical registration exercise has been suspended in Anambra in compliance to the sixty days to the election as required by Section 9(5) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) adding that the Commission will use the next few weeks to compile the register of voters for claims and objections, clean up the data, print the PVCs for collection by registrants and compile the register for each of the five thousand, seven hundred and twenty polling units in the State.
Professor Yakubu, assured that registrants in Anambra will receive their cards before the election, just as he promised political parties fielding candidates in the election that they will be given a copy of the voters’ register on 7th October 2021 as published in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the elections.
He however lamented that issues of litigations, particularly conflicting orders emanating from Courts are making their work difficult, saying that the most disconcerting for them is that the more the Commission strives to improve the credibility and transparency of the electoral process, the more extraneous obstacles are put in their way through litigations.
The National Chairman assured that the Commission will work with both the Bar and the Bench to defend the electoral process in the best interest of our democracy and charged leaders of political parties to live up to their responsibilities so that INEC can do its work as both umpire and regulator.
In his speech, the Chairman Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Dr. Leonard Nzenwa, said the National Assembly rejecting the electronic transmission of election results amounts to rejecting the most crucial legislative instrument that would have altered the way elections are conducted in the country and also helped to stop elections rigging and manipulation of election results.
He, on behalf of IPAC, encouraged the Commission to soldier on in spite of daunting challenges and do more within its powers to ensure that votes of Nigerians count in all elections.
He cautioned that increased number of registered voters in the country does not automatically lead to increase in the actual numbers of voters that cast their votes during elections and urged political parties to find better ways to sensitise voters to obtain voters card and use it for voting and not as another form of identification.
The Council also charged INEC to showcase its expertise during the Anambra Gubernatorial polls so that no one is left in doubt the that the Commission is determined to enthrone transparent and credible elections in Nigeria.
