2023 Polls: Yiaga Africa Rolls Out 5 Solutions to INEC Over Lapses in Mock Accreditation Exercise
- The readiness and reliability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been brought into question
- The electoral body's recently concluded mock accreditation exercise raised concerns about its readiness to conduct the 2023 general elections
- However, the leading electoral observer group, Yiaga Africa, reeled out some recommendations for INEC to consider
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FCT, Abuja - With less than two weeks to the presidential polls, the foremost electoral observer group, Yiaga Africa, has called on INEC to make rectification to the lapses it encountered during the mock accreditation exercise.
This call was made by Yiaga Africa's executive director, Samson Itodo, on Friday, February 10, during a press briefing in Abuja.
Source: Twitter
In Yiaga Africa's latest report, issues spotlighted issues on the testing of the BVAS and the electronic transmission of accreditation data.
Among the concerns raised, Yiaga Africa revealed that 15 of the 36 states uploaded data on the IReV during the mock accreditation exercise.
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The report says:
"Only 82 Polling units uploaded the total number of accredited voters on the BVAS to the IReV portal.
"All the 15 states that uploaded mock result sheets on the IReV also transmitted accreditation data except Oyo, Plateau, Edo and Ebonyi states.
"Of the 94 result sheets uploaded, only 16 result sheets were clear and readable."
Similarly, the report revealed discrepancies in the total number of accredited voters uploaded by the BVAS and the total number of certified voters recorded on the mock result sheets.
Yiaga Africa's recommendation
1. INEC should make public its reports on the set-up and testing of the BVAS and mock accreditation and provide updates on the steps taken to address the challenges identified during the BVAS testing and mock accreditation.
INEC should investigate cases where the BVAS failed to authenticate the biometrics of voters, despite having the names on the register. This will inspire public confidence in the BVAS and IReV.
2. As a matter of national emergency, INEC should notify all voters affected by the migration of polling units of changes to their polling units via text messages, emails, and phone calls if possible.
In addition, a copy of the voter register should be posted across polling units for voter to confirm their polling unit. This should be backed by a national campaign on locate and confirm your polling units via online and offline platforms.
3. INEC should replicate the transmission of the accreditation data on the BVAS to the IReV in the general election.
Transmitting accreditation figures enhances the transparency of elections as it gives citizens the opportunity to check the consistency of the number of accredited voters recorded on the BVAS and the accreditation figures entered on the result sheet by polling officials.
4. INEC should educate polling officials on recording and documentation of election figures, to avoid discrepancies between the accreditation data uploaded by the BVAS to the IReV and the figures recorded on the polling unit result sheet.
5. INEC should ensure all the BVAS devices deployed for the mock accreditation are reconfigured to read zero in the field for accreditation before they deployed for the general election. A monitoring team to supervise and monitor the reconfiguration is highly recommended.
2023 Polls: Yiaga Africa to Partner NOA on Voter Education, Location of Polling Units
In another development, preparations are ongoing to make the much anticipated 2023 election seamless for electorates.
Civil society and election observer group Yiaga Africa has continued its quest to ensure that elections are seamlessly conducted.
Its recent visit to the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was another attempt to ensure the Nigerian electoral practice will not be compromised.
Source: Legit.ng
