•As INEC insists on no voting without PVC
•Says BVAS safe, secure
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to ensure that his successor emerges through a free, fair, credible and violence-free election.
The AGF, who spoke at a conference organised by the Abuja chapter of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents, NAJUC, said it was President Buhari’s resolve to guarantee the credibility of the impending general elections, that he promptly gave his assent to the amended Electoral Act.
According to him, a major highlight of the amended electoral law is the legal backing it provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deploy the necessary technology for the elections.
However, the AGF, whose speech was read by his media aide, Dr Jubril Gwandu, maintained that the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy was not linear, stressing that citizens not only have vital roles to play in the democratic process but must also shun all vices capable of undermining the progress that has been recorded so far.
“In particular, the media are paramount in voter education so that the Nigerian citizens are enlightened to resist the urge of selling their votes and not to allow themselves to be used to commit electoral offences or cause violence before, during and after elections”, Malami added.
On his part, the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Justice Hussain Baba Yusuf, admitted that the Judiciary was under pressure, owing to what he described as an unprecedented number of pre-election cases.
The CJ, who was represented by a Judge of the court, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, said he was worried that the cases would skyrocket after the impending election.
He, however, gave the assurance that despite the mounting burden on the Judiciary, it would remain astute to ensure that justice was done in all cases brought before it, without favour or ill will.
On his part, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, insisted that only those with the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, would be allowed to vote during the general elections.
The INEC boss said there was a need for the commission to continue to assure that the Bimodal Voter Registration System, BVAS, could not be compromised.
Yakubu, who was represented by the Director of ICT, at the INEC, Dr Lawrence Bayode, while fielding questions from newsmen after he presented a paper on the topic: “INEC and the Challenges of ICT- The way forward”, insisted that technology would be deployed to actualize credible, fair and hitch-free general elections in the country.
He noted that the initial challenge was the lack of a clear-cut legal framework supporting the deployment of technology by the Commission, especially in the accreditation of voters and the voting process.
The INEC chairman, however, identified the spread of fake news and misinformation in the social media space, describing it as a major challenge the electoral body was confronting.
“Another very disturbing trend is the misinformation and disinformation on technological deployments by the Commission in the social media space and some media houses picking up news bulletins from social media platforms to discuss on their morning shows and political programmes, without reaching out to the Commission for its stance on such issues.
“One such is the recent viral assumption that PVC is not required to vote on Election day.
“Let me reiterate the Commission’s stance that, Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 clearly states that,
”A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a Presiding Officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered”, he added.
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