Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari has expressed the readiness of the commission to conduct credible polls in the State.
Ari who made the disclosure during a press briefing in Yola noted that to that effect the commission has received 4,104 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (VBAS) for the 4,104 electoral units in the state.
He said to ensure credible polls in the state, INEC has met with all stakeholders and harped on the need for them to ensure fair, free and hitch free election.
“The Commission being an inclusive driven organization is very mindful of carrying every group along in the electoral process to achieve free, fair, credible and acceptable elections as enshrined in our Mission and Vision. The objective of this briefing is to bring you to the level of preparedness as well as solicit for your usual cooperation collectively and individually for the successful conduct of the 2023 General Elections.
“The Commission in the state is poised to conduct a successful election not only for the Presidential Election but in all the 37 Constituencies in the State (made up of 1 Governorship, 3 Senate, 8 House of Representatives and 25 State Assembly).
“We had engaged with a good number of Stakeholders in the State to ensure inclusiveness. Amongst the groups we engaged are the Political Parties, Security Agencies, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Media, PWDs, Faith Based Organisations (FBOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Youth Organisations, Women groups and MDAs.
“Other critical Stakeholders include NURTW, NARTO, Maritime workers Union, NYSC, NOA, FRSC, NDLEA, Human Right Commission etc.
“As part of the Commission’s commitment to use technology to support credible and transparent accreditation process and transmit election results in the 2023 General Elections, we have taken delivery of 4,104 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the state.
“We are still expecting additional 275 BVAS for the State, as a back up in case there may be the need for replacements during the elections, etc.
“BVAS will be used for the 2023 General in all the polling units in the state. In addition, the Commission will also deploy technology for transmitting election results from the polling units known as IRev (also using the BVAS to ensure election results are accurate),” he said.
He said the commission has also configured, tested, verified, and labeled the BVAS according to the Polling Units to ensure that the equipment is ready for use during the elections.
“We shall deploy all BVAS to the LGAs this midweek for charging in readiness for the election. BVAS will ensure one man, one vote and all votes must count. A few days ago, the mock accreditation using the BVAS was carried out in the three Senatorial zones of the State.
“The exercise was carried out in Yola South, Mubi North and Numan. In all, the equipment is found to be working perfectly as it was used in the Ekiti and Osun elections,” he added.
Ari also disclosed that the commission has received some of the non- sensitive materials in the state from the Commission’s zonal store in Gombe State as well as the headquarters of the Commission.
“Amongst the materials received are: sleeping mats, ballot boxes, Liquid Gum, Election Bags, voting cubicles, colour printer, black and white printer, maintenance kits, Toners, and Micro Dry Dip, first aid kits, apron vests, tags, ID for different categories of Adhoc staff, assorted etc. and this shall continue until we have taken all the materials needed for the elections.
“In summary, over 80% of our non-Sensitive materials have been supplied and moved to the 21 LGAs in the State,” he said.
He disclosed that sensitive election materials for the 25th February, 2023 Presidential/NASS election have been delivered to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Yola.
“The materials comprises of the Result Sheets for the three sets of elections i.e. Presidential, Senate and Federal Constituencies. The Commission has approved that we carried out a pre-inspection of the materials and our team of Logistics and Electoral Operations staff have been preoccupied with the sorting and batching of these materials with the view to ascertain the shortfall or materials not supplied,” he said.
