The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned Nigerians against “unnecessary tension” following the Senate’s rejection of a proposal to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act.

The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, gave the caution on Saturday in Abuja while monitoring a mock accreditation exercise conducted ahead of the February 21 Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Speaking on the controversy surrounding the Senate’s decision on electronic transmission, Amupitan urged Nigerians to allow the legislative process to run its course.

He explained that the amendment process requires harmonisation between both chambers of the National Assembly before a final position can emerge.

He said the situation should not create anxiety among citizens, stressing that INEC remains committed to deploying technology to enhance the credibility of elections.

Leading a delegation of National Commissioners and the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to selected polling units, including NIPOST in Area 10 Garki, Government Secondary School Wuse Zone 3, LEA Primary School Ushafa, and Sagwari Primary School in Dutse, Amupitan said the exercise was aimed at testing the commission’s operational readiness and the technical efficiency of the upgraded Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

He described the BVAS as a “game changer” for electoral integrity, noting that the commission was determined to address any technical issues ahead of the actual polls.

“We don’t want to use the main election as a guinea pig. This is basically to test operational preparedness, and our major focus is the functionality of the BVAS, which for us is a game changer,” he said.

According to him, accreditation during the simulation took about five seconds per voter, while the device successfully blocked a repeat accreditation attempt, demonstrating its effectiveness in preventing double voting.

“With this technology, there is no way you can be accredited twice. There’s no way you can vote twice,” he added.

Beyond the devices, the INEC chairman also inspected the training of Supervising Presiding Officers (SPOs) at the Government Secondary School in Area 10 and confirmed that non-sensitive materials had already been deployed to the Area Councils.

Addressing concerns about possible network challenges in rural communities, Amupitan said the commission had strengthened its operational protocols, including the provision for presiding officers to use personal hotspots where necessary.

He explained that the system is designed to automatically upload results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal once a signal is detected.

While expressing satisfaction with the technical outcome of the exercise, the chairman lamented the low turnout of participants during the mock accreditation and urged political parties to intensify voter mobilisation.

“It is part of the responsibility of INEC to do civic education, but it is not the responsibility of INEC to go and campaign to people. That is the responsibility of political parties,” he added. (The Guardian)

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