The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has promised voters a credible election and indicated that those with disabilities will be given due consideration when voting in the 2023 elections.
Mr. Umar Ibrahim, the Resident Commissioner in Gombe State, stated that INEC has a strong policy on People Living with Disabilities because it has provided magnifying glasses to people living with leprosy, those without legs, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with impaired sight, and braille ballots will be provided for the completely blind.
Mr. Umar further stated that the implementation of the Bimodal Voter Authentication System, or BVAS, will ensure that every eligible voter cast a ballot during the election.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/wN_cc3kV9UE” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
He stated that the BVAS had two methods for confirming and authenticating legitimate voters, and that as a result, individuals should not be concerned about being disqualified from voting.
Mr. Bitson Filibus, Head of ICT and Voter Registry, ICT-VR, explained further on the use and benefits of the BVAS, saying the machine had three functions on Election Day, which were accreditation through biometrics or facial authentication, transmission of verified data of total number of voters to the INEC Server, and transmission of election results to the INEC Server.
He said there were a lot of shortcomings associated with the card reader, like failing to capture some voters’ biometrics, such as fingerprints, of which the use of BVAS had come to solve, with the two-way verification by the BVAS.
He cautioned those who may consider using someone else’s to be warned, because the BVAS had been used in off-season elections and those trying to use other people’s cards to discard the idea, because they would be found out.
Mr. Filibus said the BVAS was much secured for a credible outing in 2023.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Gombe State said the BVAS Machine had been tested and trusted to provide the near perfect elections in the country.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Gombe State said the Commission had re-launched the collection of the Permanent Voter’s Card, PVC on the 12th of November, 2022 and was scheduled to continue till 5th January, 2023 in LGA Offices, while it will available in the Registration Areas, RAs would be from the 6th to 15th January, 2023 and that from 16th to 22nd January 2023, it would be again return to LGA Offices for collection.
Mr. Ibrahim said so far, all outstanding PVCs had been received by INEC in Gombe State and that their collection was ongoing at the various LGA offices.
He said the number of uncollected PVCs in Gombe State as at December 20 was 231, 900, but urged the public, especially those who registered, transferred, updated their bio-data or requested for replacement of their lost or damaged PVCs to go and collect them.
