2023: BVAS to Curtail Rigging, Electoral Malpractices - Former INEC REC

 

Politicians will struggle in the 2023 general elections because the newly introduced Bimodal Voters Accreditation System would curtail rigging and other forms of electoral manipulations.

 

A former Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa-Ibom State of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mike Igini said this on Wednesday during the 2023 election townhall organised by the Abuja leadership centre, a centre of excellence in public governance set up by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund at the University of Abuja.

 

According to a statement made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, the town hall was organised to deepen political participation of young Nigerians by providing them with the necessary trainings required for leadership.

 

Speaking at the event, Igini said, “There will be a major paradigm shift in the 2023 polls as voters now have the ultimate power to determine winners of election.

 

Polling unit, ward and local government collation centres are now mere ceremonial collation centres as results entered into the BVAS are automatically loaded into the cloud system.

 

Also quoted in the statement, the vice-chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Abdulrasheed Na’allah said, “This Centre of Excellence on Public Governance and Leadership has given us the opportunity to help develop leadership for this nation.

 

Speaking further, the don cited example of Singapore that got it right on leadership recruitment system which catapulted it from a third world country to a first world nation within a short period of time.

 

On the 2023 general elections, the Vice Chancellor called on young people to participate fully in the process, adding that the Abuja Leadership Centre’s decision to organise the townhall would go a long way to address the issue of political apathy among young Nigerians ahead of the 2023 polls.

”They will begin to imbibe this and they will also begin to ask questions. We want Nigerians to be asking these questions. Is voting the end of the story? Or voting and seat there and proudly say- I am standing and seating by my vote?” He said.

 

On his part, the Director of the Centre, Professor Philip Afaha, said the townhall purposely targeted young people in order to boost their participation in the next year’s elections and subsequent electoral processes in the country.

 

His words, “The objective of organising this town hall is to educate the public and not just the public but the young public. The University is predominantly peopled by young Nigerians and they have the right to know what will be happening in the country by February and March next year.