Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has narrated how the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) aided electoral fraud during the 2023 general elections in his state.
BVAS is a technological device introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2021 to promote credible elections and prevent rigging.
However, in an interview with Daily Trust, the governor stated that officials from INEC officials failed to strictly use the BVAS machines during the poll, leaving room for manipulation of the results.
The governor alleged that there were huge human interventions in the electioneering process as against what was widely advocated before the polls.
He said, “Yes, because of all the advertisements about the BVAS, the human element and interferences in the entire process is still above 90 per cent. We thought it was super technology, but it’s nothing. They’ve taken it to a point where somebody sits back to say I feel like I should look at the BVAS but under a different circumstance, the same person will say I don’t feel like looking at the BVAS now or the results are still uploading.
“So, if you look at the scenarios, you see opportunities for people to be mischievous.”
“Unfortunately, also, characters within INEC advised some of the ad hoc staff not to bother about the BVAS. Some of us believe that there was something like that. From our situation room, what we got and the tumbling results that eventually manifested on the result sheets do not tally. It’s a monumental fraud,” the governor added.