INEC allays fears on BVAS, restates readiness for election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states gubernatorial elections are in safe hands and cannot be vandalised in any form before, during or after the election.

Daily Trust reports that there have been agitations in different quarters about the safety of the BVAS deployed to the state for the conduct of the November 11governorship election.

But reacting on Wednesday, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the national chairman of INEC, said the BVAS for the governorship election was calibrated to the extent that they cannot be operated by anyone until the election day at specific time, for a specific period.

Speaking as a resource person during a training session organised by the International Press Centre in Abuja for Kogi journalists ahead of the gubernatorial polls, Oyekanmi said the BVAS was configured for a particular polling unit and cannot function for another polling unit during the election, stressing that new features in it made it impossible for it to be compromised to rig election.

“The BVAS for Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo elections have been configured and can only open and function on a particular day and time. It cannot be re-configured by anyone again,” he said.

He said the commission has increased the supply of BVAS machines to Ganaja-Lokoja polling units in Kogi where large a number of voters is expected to vote during the election.

He also restated the readiness of the commission to cancel and re-conduct an election anywhere violence is recorded, stressing that the body will cancel the election totally in the event of recorded over-voting.