Political parties, voters optimistic as INEC conducts mock accreditation in Kano

Some voters and members of political parties said they are optimistic about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

They expressed confidence in the voting process during the mock accreditation exercise conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano on Saturday.

The mock accreditation exercise was conducted in six local government areas in Kano.

The selected local council areas were Gwale, Kumbotso, Bichi, Dawakin Tofa, Wudil, and Rano.

PREMIUM TIMES visited the Na’inawa ward in the Kumbotso council area and monitored how the accreditation exercise was conducted.

At the Na’ibawa ward, Muhammadu Zubair, a resident, commended INEC for the introduction of the BVAS technology for timely accreditation of voters unlike in the previous manual exercise.

“When I came they collected my Permanent Voters Card (PVC), I thumbprinted and my information appeared on the screen of the BVAS machine, they also tried facial accreditation which was also successful in some seconds. The entire process is not up to two minutes.

“I was tested like other voters but the BVAS machine rejected me for the second time. The machine alerted me that I was earlier accredited thus, I can’t vote twice.

“This is fantastic, to be frank with you, this will also reduce congestion during the election at the polling units, this development is a welcome one,” Mr Zubair said.

Many of the voters who spoke to our reporter at the exercise commended the INEC for the introduction of the BVAS technology.

One of them, who simply identified herself as Humaira, said she is happy because the machine accredited her through facial expression after the machine rejected her thumbprint because of her henna decoration.

An observer, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Kwankwaso, said the accreditation process using the BVAS machine is impressive. He, however, urged the INEC to educate voters in the rural areas before the election.

“I visited other polling units where the exercise is being conducted, what I saw is quite encouraging. In seconds, you can get accreditation as a voter.

“In one hour you can accredit over 120 voters, this is quite encouraging and impressive, and this is a good initiative.

“But the BVAS machine being introduced in the electoral process may not be known to the voters in rural areas, in this regard, I urge INEC to intensify voter education regarding the new technology.

“The INEC on their part must ensure that all BVAS machines going to rural areas are adequately charged to enable them to work throughout the accreditation period,” Mr Kwankwaso said.

Muhammadu Yakubu, the Secretary for the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) in the Na’ibawa ward said the ongoing accreditation exercise is satisfactory and welcomed the development.

However, Mr Yakubu said the ongoing naira scarcity forced many people to stay away from the exercise.

He said some people are willing to come but due to the scarcity of the new naira notes, did not attend the exercise.

“We have done our best by going around notifying people about the mock accreditation exercise but yet many people did not show up.

“But our observations during the exercise are good, we are satisfied with the BVAS machine. When they started the mock exercise I did not spot any challenges, we are okay with it,” the NNPP scribe said.

Variables observed – INEC boss

Kano State’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Zango Abdu, told reporters at the Na’ibawa ward that the BVAS machine is efficient, effective and encouraging after visiting some of the polling units where the mock exercise is being conducted.

“On the average, a voter is accredited in a minute but there is variable, we have seen for example that to a large extent, facial recognition is faster than the fingerprint, we will like the two to work efficiently.

“This is one of the discoveries during the mock exercise, facial recognition is much easier, we will get the report from other places and aggregate them. We hope that before Election Day, if there is any gap (this) will be checked.

“The mock accreditation exercise is meant to assess whether the BVAS is efficient, and effective, and will give us the necessary platform to ensure an easy process.

“When you are doing an election you make things easy for voters to exercise their rights. There is no reason for citizens to come to the polling unit and stay for the whole day without being accredited but for now, the accreditation process is good and fast and if we noticed anything, we will address it,” Mr Abdu said.

He said after the mock exercise whatever challenges observed will be identified and addressed on election day so that things will go much smoother than the mock exercise