Published 26th Jul, 2022

By Abideen Olasupo

The Ekiti and Osun governorship elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in June and July have been described as a marked improvement from preceding elections. This is largely in terms of timeliness in the deployment of election materials and personnel, accountability in terms of the process and transparency in terms of result collation process. Even though the elections were blighted by the criminal menace of vote merchandising, this is a great sign that the power of the ballot truly belongs to the people.

Thus, election observer groups commended INEC, the Nigerian police, other election stakeholders and of course the residents of the states for their resilience and commitment to credible and non-violent elections. Going into the all-important 2023 general election without the baggage of perennial logistics elections is no doubt a major morale booster. As a matter of fact, Yiaga Africa, an election observer group, reported that 77 percent of polling units were open and 99 percent commenced accreditation and voting by 9.30 am. This is no doubt a major improvement from the 2021 governorship election in Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory Area Council election in February 2022.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is the latest technological device introduced into the electoral terrain to verify fingerprints and authenticate facial features to ensure only eligible voters are allowed to vote. This is steadily making electoral malpractices difficult or impossible while boosting citizens’ confidence in the electoral process. The deployment and optimal functionality of BVAS across all 3,763 polling units, 332 registration area centres and 30 local government areas in Osun State is a major statement to how important the role of technological innovations will be, especially going into the 2023 general election.

While the BVAS is a profound technological innovation that improves electoral integrity, the INEC Results Viewing (IREV) Portal and electronic transmission of election results have become a masterstroke that promotes transparency and prevents malpractices in the result collation process. This, to a very large extent, enables ordinary citizens to access election results from the comfort of their homes, thereby encouraging accountability in the process. Thus, it was no surprise to see civil society organisations fight tooth and nail to ensure the passage of the Electoral Act 2022 and specifically ensure legal backing for the deployment of technology and electronic transmission of election results.

There is no doubt that technological innovations impacted positively on the election day deployment, but the impact of technology was right from the pre-election preparatory activities. Eyebrows were raised when INEC rightly chose not to deposit sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) due to the openly partisan tendencies of the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. However, the commission successfully deployed its sensitive materials to all local government areas and all 332 registration area centres with trackers to ensure materials were deployed to appropriate locations. Similarly, unlike in previous years, submission of the details of party agents and list of observers for the elections are now done via an online portal. This has further standardised preparations for elections while preventing all forms of backdoor activities and, by extension, ensuring the religious implementation of the activities on the commission’s timeline going into the election.

Also, it is important to state that the only group that deployed a parallel vote tabulation to verify accuracy of election results, Yiaga Africa, said INEC’s official announcement of the votes cast for the 2022 Osun State gubernatorial election was consistent with its election observation findings. There is also a high tendency that, if official results were changed at the ward, LGA or state collation centres, the electronically transmitted results and results from the IREV would have tracked any inconsistencies.

While technology may not be a silver bullet that can solve all our election problems, it is indeed proving to be a masterstroke in promoting electoral transparency and integrity. It is however not yet uhuru, as low voter turnout remains a proof that more needs to be done to boost citizens’ confidence while vote merchandising must be curtailed to eradicate the transactional relationship between the government and the governed.

In this vein, intentional steps like grassroot engagements, town hall and community organising must be done to mobilise eligible voters to participate in the election process from an informed perspective. Citizens must understand the implication of abdicating their civic responsibility and how this is directly connected to the standard and cost of living. Similarly, election stakeholders, especially security and other law enforcement agencies, must devise proactive and strategic ways to fight vote trading as it continues to delegitimise political mandates and devalue the Nigerian citizenship.

Olasupo Abideen is a good governance, youth investment and public policy enthusiast. Abideen serves as the Kwara State coordinator of the NotTooYoungToRun movement and the executive director, Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative.

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