No one can use another person’s PVC to vote, it recognises face and fingerprints
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
It is useless buying up Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to rig election because they have face and fingerprints biodata that ensures only the genuine owner can use one, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians.
Those “still going about purchasing Permanent Voter Cards” will be disappointed; it is better they mobilise registered voters to vote for their candidates instead of “smearing the reputation of INEC with baseless conspiracy theories,” it said.
This “will not work,” insisted Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu. He told The Guardian the Commission is not a political party and does not have a preferred candidate.
He said INEC has been preparing for the 2023 vote since the end of the 2019 election, perfecting existing tools and introducing innovations.
“These innovations are designed to ensure the integrity of the process and make it impossible for any politician or INEC staff to compromise an election in favour of any candidate.
“Therefore, the insinuation that some politicians are buying PVCs to rig the 2023 general election is baseless because INEC has moved very far away from the period when the Incident Form could be used for that purpose on Election Day,” he clarified.
Oyekanmi was asked to respond to a trending post alleging moves to buy votes could eventually “reflect on INEC’s portal … in collaboration with INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.”
The post reads in part: “Yesterday, I was driving past Ahiazu Council office and I saw many people there. I asked and was told they wanted to fill forms and submit for empowerment. I asked how and was shown a form people were filling.
“Could you believe that in the form, they asked for PVC numbers, National Identification Numbers, Bank Verification Numbers and personal information, like bank account numbers and other personal data.
“Afterwards, they took photo shots of each participant and keyed it against their information. I was told that this is going on in all the local councils in the 36 states of the federation, and they are using empowerment as a cover for this broad day robbery.
“Only God knows how they do it with people’s PVC and it will eventually reflect on INEC’s portal on election day, in collaboration with INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu.”
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Unique advantage of BVAS
Oyekanmi dismissed the post.
“For the 2015 and 2019 general elections, the Commission used the Smart Card Reader (SCR) to authenticate the PVC and accredit the voter on election day via his or her fingerprint and allowed the use of the Incident Form,” he said, per The Guardian.
“Unfortunately, some politicians took advantage of this waiver, bought PVCs, gave them out to their acquired voters and sent them to polling units to vote, using the Incident Form.
“This was one of the reasons the Commission introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the 2023 general election. The BVAS has one significant advantage over the SCR: it accredits through fingerprint and facial recognition.
“So, if your fingerprint fails, certainly your face will not fail. However, if the BVAS rejects your face, it means you are not an authentic voter and will not be allowed to vote.
“You will be asked to leave the polling station immediately. You could also be arrested for impersonation.
No one can vote with another person’s PVC
“To engender transparency, the Commission introduced the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in 2020, where individual polling unit results are uploaded on election day.
“We used the portal for the Edo, Ondo, Ekiti Osun, and Anambra off-season governorship elections.
“At the end of voting on election day, after the ballots have been counted and results announced, the Presiding Officer will take a picture of the result sheet – Form EC8A – and upload the same to the IReV portal before departing to the collation centre.
“Party agents and voters will witness this activity that is backed by law.”
“So, for this 2023 election, it is one genuine voter, one vote. No PVC, no voting. No accreditation by BVAS, no voting.
“If you try to make trouble at the polling unit because the BVAS rejects your fingerprint and face, the security agents around will arrest and prosecute you, according to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
“Therefore, this general election will not be business as usual. If there are politicians out there still going about purchasing PVCs to use pseudo-voters on election day, they will not only be disappointed but arrested and prosecuted.”
