•Advises party agents

By ABUBAKAR YUSUF

The National Woman Leader of Allied People’s Movement (APM), Hajiya Hafsat M.B. Usman, says the workability of the newly introduced Biomodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would give credence to the outcome of the 2023 general elections and subsequent ones.

The APM National Woman Leader made the assertion against the backdrop of the recent mock accreditation and testing of the machines monitored by parties across the country.

She commended INEC for the new technology and innovations, saying it would go a long way to resolving post-election problems.

Hajiya Hafsat Usman, therefore, urged the electorate to ensure accreditation, using BVAS before voting in the forthcoming general elections.

“We closely monitored the just concluded INEC mock accreditation, and urge all party supporters/voters to note the following:

“The BVAS machine is very fast and accredits (verifies) voters within 10 seconds. The BVAS accredits voters either through thumbprint or facial recognition, not both. If one verification method fails, the other will likely work. If both methods fail, then the voter should leave the polling unit. It is likely that he/she did not register in that polling unit.

“Every party polling unit agent should ensure that everyone who comes to the polling unit to vote must first be accredited by the BVAS machine before they can go and vote. For a successful accreditation, the BVAS machine displays, in green text, “verification successful.

“The BVAS machine also counts the number of people it accredits and automatically sums it up at every point.

“The BVAS machine also stores up the details of everyone it accredits. So, if it shows you that it has accredited 100 people, if you tap the point where the 100 is displayed, the BVAS will show you the details of each of the 100 people.

“When voting closes, the first thing every party agent should do is to ask the INEC Presiding Officer to tap the BVAS so the agent can see, and copy the total number of accredited voters. The agent should write this number down somewhere. Remember: write the number down either in your phone or exercise book or a sheet of paper that you will not readily throw away.

“This request above should be made even before sorting of ballot papers begins. Do not let sorting of ballot papers begin until you have first seen the total accreditation. Write down the figure.

“The ballot papers can then be sorted and votes counted. The total number of votes in the polling unit must not be more than the total accreditation recorded in the BVAS.

“Every party agent and supporter must be extremely watchful throughout the voting processand the result-counting and upload process.

“Ensure the INEC Presiding Officer does not leave the open space at the Polling Unit until she/he uploads the result that was counted and written down on the result sheet (Form EC8A) in your presence. Do not let them move away from the open space.

“No excuse under the sun should make you allow the INEC Presiding Officers leave the Polling Unit without uploading the result first. No internet? Share your hotspot with them. Note also that the BVAS does not need internet except at the point of uploading results.

“How to know the result has been uploaded? It will write in green, “Upload Successful!”

“After the successful upload of your polling unit result, take your physical copy of the INEC result sheet (Form EC8A) and hand over to the party Collation Officer.

“The post BVAS mock accreditation exercise carried out across the country and the two-day workshop and training organised by INEC for political parties will go a long way to resolving thorny outcomes of elections in Nigeria,” she said.