By our reporter| The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed its commitment to credible elections in which people’s votes will be the sole determinant of electoral outcome.
Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, stated this on Thursday while delivering a keynote speech at the 6th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos,
Yakubu noted that in line with this resolve, INEC has “introduced many new innovations, supported by the deployment of appropriate technology, to protect the sanctity of the choice made by Nigerians at the polls ranging from voter registration to voter accreditation and result management.”
He said “the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) with its dual fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation process has ensured that only genuine voters are accredited to vote during election.
This, he said, has curtailed the incidence of multiple voting and other sharp practices associated with voter accreditation during elections.
Yakubu assured that the BVAS has come to stay and will be the only means by which voters will be accredited in the 2023 General Election.
“Furthermore, the introduction of the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) Portal has made the result management procedure more transparent. Polling Unit results are now uploaded in real-time to the IReV portal for public view”, he said.
“This has enhanced the transparency, credibility, and consequently public confidence in the outcome of elections. The IReV has come to stay and polling unit results will be uploaded to the portal in real-time in the 2023 General Election.”
Describing election as a multi-stakeholder activity, the INEC helmsman appealed to the media to always partner with the Commission in managing the electoral process for credible outcome.
“As campaign activities get underway, the media will continue to play an important role. A lot of the activities will take place in the media of which the new media is a critical player.”, he said.
“We must continue to work together against the spread of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation that seek to create or exacerbate tension or de-legitimise processes and outcomes.”
Prof Yakubu charged GOCOP to lead a network or alliance of stakeholders to curb fake news, which he described as a threat to national security.
“We have noticed that your members have so far steered clear of fake news. We urge you to do more. GOCOP should come out strongly in the battle against fake news which is clearly a challenge to the electoral process going forward.
“We are happy to note that you have your peer review mechanism using your leaders to regularly remind every member of the need for credible journalism. This is highly commendable. We urge you to extend this beyond GOCOP to serve as a bulwark against the menace of fake news.”
The conference also witnessed the induction of 13 new members of Guild.
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