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By Vincent Ujumadu, Awka

A TEAM of election observer groups that monitored the Anambra governorship poll on Saturday and Tuesday have described the election as successful, adding, however, that the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, almost marred the efforts and preparations made by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The leader of the team, Prince Stafford Bissong, who addressed reporters in Awka said many INEC ad hoc staff who handled the BVAS machined were not conversant with its operations and called on the electoral umpire to adequately train its staff before any other election it would conduct in the country.

He said: “What we observed was that most of the ad hoc staff did not have proper knowledge of how to operate the BVAS apparently because of the anxiety of using it for the first time, thereby causing slow accreditation of the voters. The BVAS that replaced the card readers prevented many people from voting.

“Some of these machines used in the Anambra 2021 elections performed below expectation resulting in a lack of confidence in the use of the new technology. We see the use of BVAS as work in progress and its functionality must be perfected to avoid disenfranchising the voters in future”.

According to him, many observer groups were forced to assist the ad hoc staff to operate the BVAS when it became obvious that most people who came out to vote might not exercise their civic obligation due to no fault of theirs.

He commended the people of Anambra State for their high level of commitment to the sustenance of democracy, adding that despite the hiccups, they were determined to remain at the voting centres until they were able to cast their votes.

He added that there was also the issue of a network problem, which INEC must find a solution to before the next election it would conduct, noting that in some instances voters had to deploy their hotspot to assist the INEC staff.

“Anambra State indigenes exhibited a high level of discipline and hospitality, thereby helping to make the process smooth and helping the long and crowded queues to reduce.

“In the past Anambra was noted for voter apathy, but this time around, they came out in large numbers to participate in electing their governor, which is very commendable”, Bissong said.

He also observed that the election witnessed several electoral malpractices, which include vote buying, ballot box snatching, intimidation of collation and electoral officers by political thugs and urged the political parties to educate their followers on the need to maintain decorum during elections.