After Spending Billions On Technology, INEC Went To Court To Argue Against BVAS And IREV-Balogun Akin Osuntokun
Prominent Southwest politician and Labour Party chieftain, Balogun Akin Osuntokun, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria of contradicting itself during the ongoing Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal. Osuntokun revealed during an interview on Africa Independent Television’s ‘Kaakaki’ program that INEC had spent billions of Naira to deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and Result Viewing Portal (IREV) during the controversial February 25 presidential polls. However, he expressed surprise when INEC began arguing against the significance of these technologies in determining the true winner of the election.
Osuntokun, who served as the Director of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, highlighted the inconsistency between INEC’s deployment of advanced technology and its subsequent dismissal of its importance in court. The BVAS and IREV were introduced to enhance the credibility and transparency of the election process, allowing voters to be accredited through a biometric system and providing a portal to view election results in real-time.
He said; “When you, for instance, have a body like INEC that came up with what was supposed to be the joker in ensuring its credibility and integrity in the conduct of elections. But we go to court every day to see INEC arguing against BVAS and IREV. After making expenses to the tune of hundreds of billions of Naira, you got this technology, this instrument to assure the credibility of your elections.
But the present state that we are in right now, is that INEC is arguing against why BVAS should be shown to have worked. They are the ones now arguing against it by saying that legally, they are not constrained to observe what BVAS is saying. They claim that the Electoral Act gives them the room to use a manual method besides what they recommended by themselves to be in the best interest of Nigerians. To be honest, Nigeria’s capacity for absurdity is becoming tiring.
By arguing against the use of these technologies, Osuntokun suggested that INEC was undermining its own efforts to improve the electoral process. The accusations raised questions about the intentions and motivations behind INEC’s stance and cast doubt on the commission’s commitment to upholding fair and transparent elections.
The ongoing Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has attracted significant attention from Nigerians who are closely monitoring the proceedings. Osuntokun’s accusations against INEC add further fuel to the already heated discussions surrounding the legitimacy and transparency of the February 25 presidential polls. The tribunal’s outcomes will be closely scrutinized as Nigerians await a resolution to the disputes and seek clarity on the role of technology in future elections.
SOURCE: YouTube (Forward video to 1:41:59).
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