2023: Plots to remove INEC chair, stop BVAS raise dust 4 months to elections

The INEC, on its part, said it had reached an advanced stage with the process, including procurement of materials. The commission has also advertised for the temporary election

The INEC chair, in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust penultimate week, had reiterated that the commission would deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as done during recent off-season elections.

Yesterday, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) addressed a press conference in Abuja and raised the alarm over the plot to remove the INEC chairman.

CUPP spokesman Ikenga Ugochinyere, who spoke on behalf of the opposition parties, said the coalition had also uncovered fresh plots to deactivate the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) from being used in the election and ultimately stop electronic transmission of results.

Prior to the CUPP’s press conference, sources had told Daily Trust that political actors believed the elections would be difficult to manipulate under the current circumstances.

The three “unwanted” elements about the elections which the politicians wanted to be expunged, Daily Trust gathered, include the use of BVAS for accreditation of voters, cancellation of the use of incident forms and electronic transmission of election results.

Two governors–one from the South East and another from North East–are said to be at the forefront of the plot to kick out the INEC chairman. Also, a leader in the National Assembly, who allegedly felt betrayed by the INEC chairman, is said to have joined the prey “to get back at the chairman”.

The fear over BVAS

BVAS, introduced by INEC to replace the smart card reader used in the 2019 elections, is a biometric system that recognises voters based on their fingerprints or faces.

An INEC insider said politicians are now wary of using BVAS and cancelling the incidence forms for voters not recognised by the BVAS device.

He said: “The BVAS is very advanced. It’s different from the smart card reader in many ways. If it cannot capture your fingers, it can capture your face, and there is no excuse for not using it.”

According to the source, the agitations that the INEC brings back the incident form and cancels the use of BVAS and the IREV platforms have thickened since the Anambra state governorship election.

A governor from the southeast was said to have made frantic efforts to have the election swayed, but it was made impossible because of the adamant nature of the INEC’s top leadership and the electronic transmission of results.

The source said: “They had results from 10 local governments which they wanted the INEC to accept but they were told it was impossible with the current system. It was frustrating for the governor, who had already told one of the candidates he woukd be declared the winner.”

According to another insider in the commission, rather than work with the party, the governor later discovered that three senior INEC officials, including one in charge of the electronic systems, had “compromised” to pave way for another party to win the election.

“They obtained security reports about the three of them, showing the transactions they had. This was how they pushed the person in IT out of his seat and blocked the reappointment of another senior commissioner,” said the source, who asked not to be named due to the issue’s sensitivity.

Aside from the political pressure on INEC, there were reports of a lawsuit instituted before the Federal High Court in Owerri, Imo state, seeking to stop INEC from using BVAS for the 2023 elections.

Yakubu in the eye of the storm

Some politicians are said to be uncomfortable with the INEC chairman’s rigid posture and unwillingness to help them during critical periods.

Yakubu was also lately embroiled in allegations around his assets declaration.

In late September, a Federal High Court in Abuja okayed a hearing in a suit asking to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to release the assets declaration forms of the INEC chairman.

The plaintiff in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/33/2021, is Emmanuel Agonsi.

Daily Trust gathered that this was not the first suit of this nature against the INEC chairman.

“There was another suit in Abakaliki. It went up to the Court of Appeal, they wanted to stop his renomination for a second term. They nearly succeeded both at the Presidency and the National Assembly level.

“He was there thinking his name would be submitted for reappointment when he was told that they had tabled the name of one professor, who was later appointed a national commissioner. When it came to the screening there was move to also block him but a presiding officer gave him a smooth sail, it is for that reason that the man now feel pained for INEC to have rejected him as candidate of his party,” one of our sources said.

Use of BVAS irreversible– INEC

INEC dismissed the call for the re-introduction of the incidence form and the suspension of using BVAS for the 2023 general elections.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a chat with Daily Trust yesterday, said: “The decision of the commission to introduce and use the BVAS is final and irreversible. It is backed up by the law, and a substantial number of the BVAS for the 2023 elections have been delivered. The BVAS is the game changer and has buried the incident forms.

“Those engaged in identity theft should not be near the polling units. Those that have stolen or bought over PVCs are out of business and should not attempt to access the PUs. The commission is focused on delivering on its mandate.

“The commission is not and will not pay attention to the negatives or the antics of those that will want to delegitimize the electoral process and the commission. The commission has reached the critical stage of the electoral process, and all Nigerians and all the critical stakeholders should join the commission in delivering a clean election.”