…appeals to Nigerians to remain peaceful

By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

AS collation results of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in some polling units across the country continue, Yiaga Africa, Sunday, tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on making public the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, accreditation data public according to polling units.

The call was made by the Chair, Yiaga Africa Watching The Vote, Dr Hussaini Abubakar along with the Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo during media conference held in Abuja.

Abubakar who read from a preliminary statement on the election said INEC fell short of expectations from Nigerians and election observers, which made INEC not to conduct elections in some polling units due to INEC’s inability to deploy, insecurity, disruption or malfunctioned BVAS.

According Yiaga Africa, two polling units in Kano and Delta States where voting were suspended and INEC indicated the process will continue on Sunday, 26th February.

The report reads in part, “Yiaga Africa expressed concerns about the unexplained delay in uploading polling unit results for the presidential election on the INEC Election Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

“As of 10pm on Election Day, results for the Presidential election were not uploaded on the INEC portal after voting and counting ended in several polling units. At 9:00am on 26th February, INEC uploaded only 25,503 results for the Presidential elections on the INEC portal.

“The delay in uploading the results undermines public confidence in the results transmission process as it deviates from the guidelines for the elections and it failed to meet citizens expectations.

“Thus far, the 2023 presidential elections are once again a missed opportunity. The currency crisis created unnecessary challenges for voters, political parties and civil society to engage in the electoral process as well as for INEC to conduct the elections.

“Logistical shortfalls by INEC produced confusion and unacceptable delays in polling units opening – most notably in South East and South South geopolitical zones.

“The failure of the IReV system, intended to enhance transparency, undermines public confidence in the process.

“In view of the foregoing, Yiaga Africa makes the following preliminary recommendations: Yiaga Africa calls on the commission to provide clear communication on locations where the election did not hold and ensure the process is concluded in those location before returns are made.

“INEC should be transparent and communicate the challenges faced during the deployment of the IReV.

“INEC should make publicly available all BVAS accreditation data by polling unit, including the number of voters accredited by finger vs facial recognition.

“Protect the transparency of the result collation process by ensuring accredited observers and party agents are granted access to the collation centers.

“Strict adherence to the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act and INEC regulations and guidelines on the collation of results.

“As provided in Section 64 of the Act, collation officers and returning officers are required to compare the number of accredited voters and election results recorded on the hardcopy result sheet and scanned images on the BVAS.

“Yiaga Africa calls on INEC and security to ensure proper security for citizens especially the polling officials and collation officials especially as results collation progresses and as INEC commences the announcement of results to ensure that no life is further lost in this elections.”

Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa appealed to Nigerians to remain peaceful ahead of INEC’s official announcement of the results.

“Yiaga Africa reminds all Nigerians that the process is not yet over. They should remain peaceful while waiting on INEC to announce the official results and refrain from any acts that could incite violence.

“Political leaders should urge their supporters in particular to calmly await the official results and take appropriate actions against any party members who engage in violence or incitement to violence”, it added.