By Mujidat Oyewole
Prof. Shuaibu AbdulRaheem, the Kwara Governorship Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not made substantial adjustment in their service delivery for the election.
AbdulRaheem made this observation statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Saturday during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly polls.
He said that INEC assured that the electronic BVAS must have a SIM card which would enable it to receive signals from service providers, but the reverse was the case.
“What we heard is that many of the BVAS does not have SIM cards and now depending on virtual method.
“That is a lot of confusion in that area. What INEC told us is not what we are getting now.
“Electoral body says that the BVAS will be used and there will be instantaneous loading of data immediately after voting, but there is no evidence of that.
“Everything had eventually turned mechanical, so it is contrary to the impression that people have been given, that the BVAS is a revolutionary instrument,” the gubernatorial candidate said.
AbdulRaheem, also the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, noted that people were complaining that the materials meant for use were not appropriate.
“The likes of ballot papers, as people still have difficulty in identifying party logo.
“The logo was mutilated and the name of NNPP had not been written where it ought to have been written,” he pointed out.
The gubernatorial candidate said that there were unpatriotic citizens who had been given national jobs with INEC, adding that some of them are sometimes “agents of confusion”.
“There was a polling unit where some INEC officers said that they have not been paid, so they will not work.
“It took the intervention of a superior officer to get them back to do their job,“ he said.
AbdulRaheem also observed that there was low turnout of voters, but that does not stop people from exercising their civic duties.
“There is lower turnout of voters compared to the presidential election and the conduct has not been better in terms of malpractice.
“Like they say, the BVAS don’t have SIM cards and no Wi-Fi services for it to be activated, so how can anybody trust that kind of thing,” he queried. (NAN)
