Politicians are attempting to hack into the commission’s server, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Goldennewsng reports that According to Sahara Reporters, INEC made the announcement on Wednesday.
The commission claims that politicians are also doing everything in their power to create BVAS, or the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
An electronic device known as BVAS is made to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and verify voters.
In addition to announcing that accreditation and voting would take place simultaneously on election days, the Commission reiterated its determination to ensure a free and fair general election in 2023.
Achumie Chuka Rex, Head of Department for Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, made this statement during a Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and USAID-supported two-day workshop on voter education for civil society organizations.
Responding to participant inquiries shortly after presenting a paper with the title: Technology and the 2023 Election Commission,” Achumie said, revealed that INEC is working around the clock to keep its server’s integrity intact during and after the elections.
He said, “There is no space to hack into INEC cut off,” adding that “legislators are doing all that could be within reach to get into INEC server or even to make BVAS (Bimodal Citizen Certification Framework) yet sadly for them, INEC is three strides in front of their plots”.
Relieving fears of an organization issue that would make BVAS work really in country regions, he said that BVAS was based on a double premise – “on the web and disconnected”.
“At the moment, Nigerians are gradually bidding farewell to the dark days when the voter register was infested with foreign names and those days when election results were announced while voting was still ongoing,” Achumie stated when he delivered his paper. “Recent revelations by Professor Mahmood Yakubu show that the Commission has conducted 105 elections using the IREV, while it has uploaded 32,985 (99.13%) out of a possible 33,275 results, having recorded 100% upload rate in the just concluded Ekiti and Osun governorship elections,” Professor Mahmood Yakubu said. The 22 innovations introduced by the electoral management body include the IREV and BVAS.
“Results management is without a doubt the most important aspect of election administration, along with voting. While casting a ballot is an open and public movement, result the executives is normally shown to a couple of political decision authorities, generally outside the glare of general society. Hence, there is a need to advance straightforwardness in this in the most ideal manner.
“Other innovations that appear to have improved the system include biometric voter registration, computer-based voter registration, online pre-registration, the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) with chips, and creating online portals for candidates, observers, and political party agents, among other things,” he stated. “All of these innovations have gone a long way in standardizing Nigeria’s election management system.”
He expressed optimism that citizens’ participation in elections will “hit at least a 50% voter turnout mark” due to the incorporation of various technologies into the country’s election management, which has increased citizens’ confidence in the process.