The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the commission will not be lenient on those who commit identity theft during the 2023 general election.
The Guardian reports that INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will not allow any form of identity theft on the day of the election.
Okoye said this on Sunday, February 5, after concerns were raised on the non-validation of the permanent voter’s card (PVC) of a registrant in Imo State during INEC’s BVAS mock accreditation exercise.
The exercise was conducted in various polling units across the country on Saturday, February 4.
Okoye noted that identity theft will not be missed by the BVAS machines that would be used across the country.
He said:
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“The lady in question is fair complexioned. The picture captured during registration is that of a dark-complexioned lady. No one can identify her with the picture.
“No one can identify the person on the register. The BVAS could not identify her 10 fingers.
“Someone registered for her. So there is the possibility that the name belongs to her but the fingerprints and image on the BVAS belong to another individual. All the observers agreed that she is not truthful. That is the power of the BVAS. Identify theft will not be allowed.”
He further added during the election, INEC will deploy four ad-hoc staff to the Polling Unit (PU) consisting of a presiding officer and an assistant presiding officer one, two and three.
Okoye said all mentioned officers of the commission will be joined at the PU by unarmed security agents.
He added:
“The outer cordon may be manned by armed security agents and alternatively the security agents may be patrolling. Sometimes, we have a tense situation in PUs and sometimes the situation may be difficult to control.
“Some PUs are in difficult terrain. Some of them are in remote areas. Some of the PUs are in places that are not easily accessible. Some of the Presiding Officers will be struggling to control the crowd.
Trouble for INEC as journalist drags commission to court over missing PVC, demands N500 million as damage
With the challenges faced by many Nigerians in their effort to collect the Permanent Voters’ Cards ahead of the 2023 general election, a journalist has taken legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Adewole Kehinde, a journalist with Swift Reporters, an online news platform filed a suit against INEC over the denial of access to his voter card.
The printouts and text messages exchanged with the commission’s official show that Kehinde had earlier transferred his voter registration from Area 11 to the Nyanya area of Abuja.
CAN Makes Fresh List of Presidential Candidate Nigerians Should Vote for in February Elections
Meanwhile, the Christain Association of Nigeria (CAN) gave a directive to Nigerians on the appropriate candidates to vote for during the forthcoming elections.
Speaking to a congregation of worshippers at the Family Worship Center, the lead pastor, Sarah Omakwu, said she was sent by CAN to pass a message to Nigerians.
Her words:
“So CAN sent me to you, the Christain Association of Nigeria and they said I should say this to you.”
Source: calabargistblog.com.ng
