The All Progressives Congress, APC has kicked against the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS and the INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV, saying that Nigeria is not yet ready for such technology.
Prior to this, there have been reports that the ruling party was scheming to have the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood removed over his insistence to deploy technology to enhance and strengthen the credibility of the electoral process.
Speaking on Wednesday evening to a delegation from the Commonwealth Election Observation Mission, the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said that the nation does not has the telecoms infrastructure needed to use the system.
He said; “First, I was privileged to serve as a senator. Our concern is how ready are we to deploy some of these technologies as regards transmission because we are taking a major step in transmitting election results in real time.”
“To transmit results, every part of the nation Nigeria I’m not sure that the network covers it, I know that even in parts of Abuja there is no network and we have from now till February when in substantial parts of the country there is no electricity.”
“INEC must assure us 100 percent that as at when due in transmitting results they are ready because they spoke about recharging batteries but we had in previous elections when it says it cn’t recharge”.
National Organising Secretary of the party, Ambassador Suleiman Argungu also kicked against it saying;
“As a rider to what the national chairman just said about INEC transmitting results directly during the coming election, apart from the issue of electricity that is unstable, a lot of the villages and communities bordering other countries for instance my state Kebbi that is bordering two nations during the previous elections the network of Nigeria for all the networks, Glo, MTN, Airtel you can’t get them.”
“If you want to get them you have to use the number of the other countries to reach them. So, during election I don’t see how transmission of result will work. I see it coming.”
