INEC confirms readiness after Ekiti BVAS mock exercise

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Joash Amupitan, has said the effective performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System during a mock accreditation exercise in selected local government areas confirms the commission’s readiness for Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State. Amupitan, who was in Ekiti State as part of ongoing monitoring and assessment of preparedness for the June 20 governorship poll, said all was set on the part of INEC to conduct a transparent, credible and acceptable election. INEC, on Saturday, conducted the mock accreditation exercise in selected local government areas, including Ado and Ikere Ekiti, to test the efficiency of the BVAS machines to be deployed for the election. Speaking in Ado Ekiti during a chat with journalists, the INEC chairman, who monitored the exercise alongside top officials of the commission, said, “The mock accreditation is essentially to test our facilities, especially our technology, and ensure that everything required for the election is functioning optimally. “The BVAS machines performed efficiently during the exercise, with fingerprint and facial authentication taking an average of between five and seven seconds per voter. “We did not want to speak from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja or rely solely on paperwork. We went to the theatre of operations to see for ourselves how our systems are performing. “What we observed during the mock accreditation exercise confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational.” The INEC chairman said the commission had, however, been proactive in preparing for possible BVAS malfunctions, noting that backup devices and technical support teams had been deployed across the state. • Ekiti elders seek peaceful, credible election • ADC upbeat, targets upset win over APC, PDP • 68 pledges unmet as 10th N’Assembly nears end — Report “We have provided upgraded backup BVAS devices and deployed technical engineers across the state. Any malfunctioning device can be replaced within minutes,” he said. He assured that no election results would be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal without full verification during the Ekiti governorship election. “We will not upload results we cannot verify. In areas without network coverage, transmission is impossible until officers reach covered zones. That delay must not be used to discredit the process. Measures have been put in place to prevent incorrect results from being uploaded to IReV,” he said. Amupitan also assured that logistics arrangements had been concluded to ensure polls begin by 8:30 a.m. in all polling units. “Our goal remains the simultaneous opening of polls in all 2,445 polling units at exactly 8:30 a.m. on election day. “We have directed electoral officers to ensure that polling units are activated on time and that logistics are fully in place before election day,” he said. He added that security agencies had been engaged to ensure a peaceful and hitch-free exercise. “We have worked closely with the police, DSS, Civil Defence and other security agencies. Our priority is to ensure that voters, election officials, journalists and observers are safe throughout the electoral process,” he said.