Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State governor, has said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) deployed in the just concluded general elections did not achieve the result its proponents claimed it would.
Speaking during an interview with Daily Trust, Ikpeazu said the level of human interference with the machine greatly undermined its efficiency.
He said “Yes, because of all the advertisements about the BVAS, the human element and interferences in the entire process is still above 90 per cent. We thought it was super technology, but it’s nothing. They’ve taken it to a point where somebody sits back to say I feel like I should look at the BVAS but under a different circumstance, the same person will say I don’t feel like looking at the BVAS now or the results are still uploading. So, if you look at the scenarios you see opportunities for people to be mischievous.
“Unfortunately, also, characters within INEC advised some of the ad hoc staff not to bother about the BVAS. Some of us believe that there was something like that. From our situation room, what we got and the tumbling results that eventually manifested on the result sheets do not tally. It’s a monumental fraud.” he said.
On losing his senatorial bid, the governor said the outcome of the election did not reflect the will of the people owing to the inconsistencies in enforcing the rules set by the electoral umpire.
“To be frank with you, I’m one of the people that the BVAS deceived. I’m one of the people who believed the stories around BVAS. No two elections are the same and this particular season of the election was difficult. I give you an example, at some point, more than 102 polling units with more than 100,000 registered voters could not vote in one of the LGAs in our senatorial district.
“The margin of lead for the first three candidates was not up to 30,000. Ordinarily, when the margin of lead is not up to what is outstanding, the right thing should be done. Again, the same election was declared inconclusive at some point by the same INEC returning officer who later came back to say she was now ready to declare the results as directed from “above”. That is obviously neither here nor there.
“The Nigerian system creates victims and creates scenarios of varying victory, but I said to myself, that I needed to teach Nigerians that, though an incumbent, if you try an election and it doesn’t work, you can move on. Especially if you really think that it is a call to serve.”
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