“It’s an Arrangement”: Ex-Ekiti Governor Makes Stunning Allegation about BVAS Machine
- Former Ekiti state governor, Segun Oni, said the desperation of Nigerian politicians primarily makes elections not to be free and fair
- Oni stated that the 2023 election was not free and fair and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 'rehearsed what it wanted to do'
- The former governor lamented that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed below expectations
Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State - Former Ekiti state governor and Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the 2022 governorship election, Segun Oni, says the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was “an arrangement by the people who arranged it”.
Legit.ng reports that Oni also alleged that the 2023 general elections, which were conducted in February and March, were not credible and that INEC ‘rehearsed what it wanted to do’.
Source: Twitter
He said in an interview with The Punch, published on Saturday, May 7:
“The Ekiti governorship election preceded the general elections and ours was one of the first where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System was used.
PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!
“What I expected to happen in the 2023 election was what happened because we did not have the cause to question what happened in the Ekiti election properly."
He added:
“The BVAS is an arrangement by the people who arranged it and I am sure they know where the problems are."
Oni further said that in many places during the 2022 Ekiti state governorship election, BVAS was bypassed, and very high votes for the opposition were declared in such places.
He also claimed that figures in many polling units during the last Ekiti election were cooked-up.
2022 Ekiti state governorship election
The 2022 Ekiti State gubernatorial election took place on Saturday, June 18, 2022.
Former Secretary to the State Government Biodun Oyebanji, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election by a 30% margin over Oni who emerged as the first runner-up. Oyebanji has since been sworn in as governor.
Oni alleged massive vote-buying, claiming that he scored the highest number of valid votes in the election and should be declared the true winner.
However, the Tribunal concluded otherwise and dismissed his petition.
The appeal court and the supreme court also both affirmed Oyebanji's election as Ekiti governor..
Like Oni, Labour Party, Obi believe BVAS has been manipulated
It would be recalled that a similar protestation was made by the Labour Party following the conclusion of the 2023 presidential election, which produced Bola Tinubu as the president-elect. The party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, alleged that the BVAS had been manipulated.
Legit.ng reports that Obi is optimistic about victory at the end of the legal process.
While Obi vows to reclaim his mandate, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, also believes the election was rigged against him. Both men presently have their cases against Tinubu in court.
"All data on BVAS safe", INEC assures Nigerians
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that INEC said that all the data on the BVAS used for the Saturday, February 25 presidential poll are intact.
Tanimu Inuwa, the commission's lead counsel in the presidential elections tribunal matter between the Labour Party's flagbearer, INEC and the president-elect, gave the assurance on Tuesday, March 7, at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
Source: Legit.ng
