Lessons From Osun and the Use of BVAS
On Friday, January 27, the Osun State Electoral Tribunal nullified Governor Ademola Adeleke’s election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to revoke the certificate of return granted to him. The judgement comes barely sixty days after Adeleke was sworn in. According to the data gathered from the elections, overvoting occurred in 744 polling units out of approximately 3000 polling units in Osun State. The judges decided to cancel those 744 polling units and conduct a new count. After removing the votes from the affected areas, Adeleke polled 290,666 votes while Oyetola polled 314,921 votes, making Oyetola the winner of the 2022 Osun Governorship elections.
Why Was the Election Result Overturned?
Overvoting was the foundation of the Osun Electoral tribunal’s judgment. Before the Electoral Act of 2022, overvoting was defined as when the number of votes cast in a certain polling unit exceeded the number of registered voters. However, section 51(2) of the 2022 Electoral Act changed this. It states, “Where the number of votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceeds the number of accredited voters in that polling unit, the presiding officer shall cancel the result of the election in that polling unit.” Accreditation is accomplished technologically through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, popularly known as BVAS.
How does the BVAS Work?
INEC developed the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to enhance transparency. The BVAS ensures that all eligible voters are confirmed and validated using their fingerprints or facial features. It is also supposed to eliminate delays, impersonation, and overvoting. As a result, accreditation is handled by the BVAS, although voting is still done manually through thumb printing on ballot papers. After the elections, the BVAS is used to transmit results to the collation centre to speed up announcements of results and to make them available to the public via the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV). This development means that Nigerians can view polling unit results in real-time on the portal during the collation and counting process.
The manual result sheet will continue to be delivered to the collation centre. Following the completion of voting and counting at each polling unit, the data reflected in the BVAS must match the number on the INEC result sheet. Overvoting happens if what was transmitted by the BVAS is less than what is on the electoral result sheet, and that polling unit will be nullified.
What Should Voters Be Mindful Of?
As elections approach, remember that BVAS play a crucial part in casting your vote. Make sure the BVAS properly accredits you before voting. Accreditation is accomplished using either fingerprint or facial recognition. The beauty of this is that it has eliminated the issue of smart card readers, known to malfunction in the past, prompting many politicians to conspire with INEC and implement incidence forms. Furthermore, no one should pressurise or force you to vote if you have not yet been accredited because your illegal vote will affect the ballots of others who have been properly accredited. Voting without accreditation is thus completely pointless.
Most people were relieved when the Electoral Act 2022 was passed because they were confident that BVAS would help eliminate the problem of voter manipulation and create a level playing field for everyone. However, people can tamper with the elections even with the presence of BVAS. For example, a candidate can fund overvoting in his opponent’s territory to invalidate such votes. Therefore, Nigerians must monitor their ballots and verify that everything is done correctly at the different polling units. Ensure that the right statistics are reported on the BVAS and the manual result sheet to avoid cancellation.
Role of INEC and Electoral Observers
INEC must demonstrate to Nigerians that it is willing to conduct free and fair elections, and election observers must likewise exercise caution and keep a close eye on the polls. The Osun tribunal verdict shows high negligence by INEC officers for failure to undertake due diligence as stipulated in Section 64 subsections 4,5,6 and 7 of the Electoral Act 2022. This aspect of the law requires INEC staff to cross-check the results and verify that no irregularities occurred during the election.
Nigeria has made a lot of progress with its electoral reforms. However, I want Nigeria to make more electoral reforms and achieve full electronic voting. Brazil used it in their last elections, and it was successful. The dancing senator has filed an appeal and will stay governor until the Supreme Court rules on his case. We must learn from Osun to ensure that the elections run properly around the country.
