You must publicly show how BVAS, IReV works before every election – Aregbesola to INEC
The National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Rauf Aregbesola, says the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, must publicly demonstrate all the technology it plans to deploy in future elections.
Aregbesola stated this during a session on Innovation in Electoral Technology, stressing that it does not augur well for the electoral body to deploy technology on election day without prior demonstration to Nigerians.
“Don’t tell us you are using BVAS or IReV only for us to wake up on election day and find that everything has changed. The 2022 Electoral Act compels INEC to demonstrate to Nigerians how it intends to conduct elections,” he said.
He said that transparency and consistency in electoral technology would prevent confusion, manipulation, and loss of trust in the system.
The ADC scribe also questioned why Nigeria has yet to adopt real-time result display systems successfully used in other democracies.
He also slammed the limited access granted to party agents and election observers, calling for closer involvement in the accreditation and voting processes to guarantee credibility.
“Agents of parties should closely monitor the accreditation process. They must not be kept at a distance on election day. It is crucial to confirm that the person holding the voter card is indeed the rightful owner,” he added.
