By BITRUS JESSE DANJUMA
The 2023 Nigeria general elections which were held on February 25, 2023, all over the country will certainly be one to remember for a long time to come due to the huge interest it has and is still generating from global and local communities as well as the emergence of a third force into a formidable circle that initially has only two major parties fighting for the number one seat in the country.
The election which was set to commence nationwide from 8:00 AM Saturday morning to 2:20 PM of the same day was marked by late arrivals of INEC officials and sensitive materials to their designated polling units which included most of the polling units in Naraguta B ward situated in the Farin Gada axis of Jos North Local Government area of Plateau State Nigeria from where I monitored and observed the elections.
The INEC officials of Government secondary school one (1) polling unit 125 arrived at 9:55 am one hour and twenty-five minutes behind schedule and immediately set out setting up materials and the election booth after which an on-the-spot orientation of voters by the officials started with an apology from the officials for late arrival, which according to them was due to lack of early distribution of election materials.
Voters were informed among many things of the type of election to be conducted as well as the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which will be used for the first time to spearhead digital elections in Nigeria. The BVAS will be used to verify and authenticate the identity of voters either through facial recognition or fingerprint scanning.
Some of the significance of the new technology from its predecessor the Smart Card Reader (SCR) is that it is used as an enrollment device during voter registration enabling voter information to be stored on the machine and not the PVC as was the case with the SCR. Perhaps the most important feature of the machine as stated by the official is the ability to upload results to the INEC results viewing Portal (IReV) and automatically update itself as accreditation takes place to ensure that results are not manipulated is also a feature which makes it unique.
The orientation ended with the official stating how the process will be conducted saying no phones of any kind were allowed at the voting booth, the importance of being accredited by the BVAS before voting to ensure that votes cast count and lastly a plea to the electorate to behave in a civilised and orderly manner for the smooth and timely conduct of elections.
Accreditation and voting started immediately at 10:30 am with voters seamlessly being accredited and proceeding to vote with no issues or complications.
Some of the electorates shared their opinions after casting their votes, Ibijola Aderonke Caroline a student of the physical and Health Education Department, University of Jos who had to walk from her hostel to her polling unit to vote stated how relieved she was to have finally exercised her franchise which is the main reason she stayed behind in school instead of travelling home to Ekiti State. Aderonke implored INEC to “Do what is expected of them and do the right thing.”
Another voter Mr. Lawrence who resides in Farin Fada noted that the elections in his polling unit are going on fine, but noted that some party emblems on the ballot papers were sharper and clearer than others as well as some having no inscriptions on them, saying such is not expected in a democratic setting where every party is expected to have fair playing ground saying it’s a deliberate fact to make some parties inferior to others. While commending the INEC officials of his polling unit he pleaded with INEC to be fair and neutral in their conduct.
The People’s Democratic Party agent of the polling unit Mr. Tabari Bulus Ganye noted that the election is going on smoothly as expected, saying that there is good and reasonable understanding between voters, INEC officials and party agents.
The presiding officer of the polling unit Mr Sadique Chiroma expressed joy at how everything is going on as expected saying “there is no challenge faced because we, as corps members are working as a team.”
The 2023 general have since been concluded With the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu Declared the victor of the election and issued with the certificate of return as the president elect by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on March 1 2023 at the international conference centre abuja Which served as the venue of the National Collation centre.
Reactions are still trailing the outcome of the febuary 25 presidential elections with many criticising the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission to upload results to the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time as was promised countless times by the chairman of the commission prof Mahmood Yakubu.
Kefas Yohanna a student of Mathematics at the University of Jos says the inability of INEC to match words with actions during the 2023 presidential election which many believed by all standards will mark the beginning of free, fair and credible elections in the country will make many voters permanently lose faith in the system and develop apathy in the future.
Presidential and governorship elections as well as that of federal and state lawmakers have since been concluded within the 36 States and the FCT with winners declared, defeat accepted and many agrieved parties at both state and federal levels heading to the court of law and election petition tribunals to seek redress and claim back the mandate they believed to have been robbed of.
The 2023 general elections are the first ever to be conducted under the new electoral law introduced by INEC with technology being one of the key innovations that were introduced to the new law as well as the most expensive till date with a budget of 355 billion naira.
Elections were conducted in 176,846 polling units across the 774 local government areas that make up the country with only 24.9 million persons out of the total 93.47 million registered voters voting in the concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.
The 2023 general election is arguably the world’s first big election of the year due to the impact it will have on Africa’s largest economy.
