The Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, has emphatically stated that the era of the commission aiding politicians in winning elections is over.
He highlighted that continuous investment in technology by INEC has significantly improved the nation’s electoral system and enhanced the integrity of elections over time.
Speaking with journalists in Osogbo over the weekend, Dr. Agboke emphasized that the major obstacles to credible elections are the tactics employed by politicians, such as deploying thugs to disrupt polls and the commercialization of voting.
He noted, “INEC will continue to deepen the process with the use of technology, as I’m talking to you the commission is looking at various options of technology that can be deployed to further improve election integrity in the country.”
He praised the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, which have enhanced the transparency and reliability of the electoral process.
He explained, “Look at the introduction of BVAS, it has given us the certainty of accreditation because the number of people that voted in a particular unit cannot exceed the number of accredited voters. When that happens, manipulation is minimized. Before now, that couldn’t have happened.”
Dr. Agboke emphasized that no INEC staff can assist anyone in winning an election, thanks to the technology in place. “Maybe people don’t know, the technology deployed has ensured that. Even the deployment of material is being monitored on various platforms; how materials are moving from CBN to local government, from local government to wards, even in the morning, the time you are deploying your material is being monitored on the dashboard of INEC. These are the things we use technology to achieve. We cannot be tired of the use of technology.”
He also addressed the controversy surrounding the last election, attributing it to misunderstandings about IREV. He clarified, “The misconception in the public is that our opportunity of ensuring transparency which made us create the IREV platform was misinterpreted. IREV is not a platform for the collation of results; the actual collation is at the collation center. But we want you to have access to see what we are doing, that is why we upload it at each stage. But people thought it was for collation, hence, the noise it generated during the last general election.”
Dr. Agboke concluded by emphasizing INEC’s commitment to technology, pointing out that since 2011, the only manual aspect remaining in the election process is the actual casting of the ballot. He asserted, “Despite all the unnecessary noise, I want you to know that the commission believes in the technology, and we cannot shy away from it.”
