Nigeria decides: Our votes will count

By Adewale Qudus Lawal

Another opportunity has come for us to change the course of our nationhood for good. Another chance to choose those who are best fit for the management of our affairs and laying a solid foundation for the coming generations. It is a democratic governance and the power is in our hands. The best we can do for ourselves now is to come out massively and vote for competent, visionary and healthy leaders. People of unquestionable character.

Hardly has Nigeria ever recorded 50 percent turnout of registered voters during elections. Our attitude towards electing our leaders is very poor and we expect to have good leaders. Prayers alone will not give us the leaders we desire. The power to choose those we want as our leaders is in our hands. If we choose to stay away from voting due to the erroneous believes that votes do not count or that the powers that be already know those who will emerge as winners, we are only giving chance to misfits to lead us.

Voting for competent and dedicated leaders is very important to us as a country now than ever. The next four years is enough to build refineries to solve our fuel, kerosene, diesel, cooking gas and aviation fuel perennial problems. The next four years is enough to build power plants and renewable energy to solve our electricity problem. The next four years is enough to build health care centres to manage the high rate of infants, mothers and adult mortalities.

Nation building is not as difficult as our leaders make it to look. The difference between our country and developed countries is leadership. All the resources that enabled the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain that later spread to continental Europe and the United States were and are present in our country. We are better blessed with human and material resources than the United Kingdom, many countries in Europe and the developed world at large. But we are where we are today because of our choice of leaders. Unfortunately, since 1960 that we got our independence till today, we have not had our best as our leaders.

Dear Nigerians, with the evolution of our electoral system, I am happy to inform you that our votes will count in this February 25 and March 11 2023 General Election. Why am I this sure? There is a game changer in our electoral system. The Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) technology introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has brought sanity to our electoral system. And our votes will begin to count.

BVAS is a computer device that is used by an INEC staff to confirm the authenticity of a permanent voter’s card (PVC), verify the identity of the bearer/owner, accredit the number of people to vote in a particular polling unit and send the number of accredited voters and result sheet to INEC’s central server. That is, every registered voter with a permanent voter’s card at the polling unit where their names appear on the voters’ register will submit their permanent voter’s card to an Assistant Presiding Officer I to confirm the authenticity of their voter’s card, verify their identity through either their fingerprints or facial capture using the BVAS device, before they will proceed to the presiding officer to collect ballot papers to cast their votes.

The BVAS also accredits voters by counting the number of voters it verified which must tally with the number of ballot papers in the ballot box. Where the number of ballot papers in the ballot box is higher than the number of accredited voters by the BVAS, the entire voting process will be nullified at the affected polling unit.

The BVAS will be used to capture the result sheets by all the presiding officers at all the 176,846 polling units across the federation where elections hold at the end of the voting process. These captured result sheets together with the number of accredited voters the BVAS recorded will be sent to INEC’s central server using the BVAS device.

The BVAS does not need internet to verify and accredit voters. It only needs network coverage to transmit the number of accredited voters and a snapped copy of result sheet to INEC’s central server. Where there is no network coverage at a particular polling unit, the BVAS can save the information and transmit it automatically when there is coverage. That is, when the assistant presiding officer I moves to where there is coverage, the snapped result sheet and the number of accredited voters recorded will be transmitted automatically by the BVAS device to INEC’s central server.

Also, there is a portal (https://inecelectionresults.ng) where every Nigerian can register to view election results as they come in from all the 176,846 polling units of the federation. This will enable you to get an up-to-date results as they come in, in good time from the comfort of your home.

Those who do not have permanent voter’s cards cannot vote. Those who come with cloned voter’s cards will not be verified by the BVAS. Those who come with another person’s voter’s cards will not be able to use them to vote because the BVAS will not recognise neither their fingerprints nor their facials. Every registered voter, with an INEC issued permanent voter’s card, who are at their rightful polling units, will be able to cast their votes. If the BVAS fails to recognise their fingerprints, it will definitely recognise their facials.

Incidence Forms will not be used during these elections. Where BVAS fails, new BVAS will be requested. And where this persist (which is most likely not possible), election will be postponed at the affected polling units to the following day for INEC to put their house in order.

Dear compatriots, when considering your choice of candidates, please, rise above tribal, ethnic and religious sentiments. Do not choose your leaders because you are of the same tribe, ethnic group and/or religion. Let competence be your yardstick. Let us consider charisma, character, integrity, ability, capability, health and competence. We are all victims of bad leadership. We have suffered enough. Prioritising religion and ethnicity in choosing our leaders have done us no good. Rather, we live in penury in the midst of plenty. The abundance resources God has blessed us with are enjoyed by a few while many are still untapped. We are virtually fed with little or nothing.

If you are a registered voter and you have your permanent voter’s card, it is your civic responsibility to vote. If you choose apathy, we will be led by whoever emerges. This will hurt us all. We cannot be crying of bad leadership and choose not to participate in the process of electing good leaders. Do not join the bandwagon to believe that our votes do not count or that they have known who will emerge. Dear compatriots, our votes will count.