Adamu had expressed reservation over the deployment of electronic transmission of results when a Commonwealth delegation on the 2023 general elections paid a courtesy visit to him at the party secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.
Adamu’s fear was re-echoed by the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Suleiman Argungu, who identified a stable power supply as one of the obstacles facing the innovation.
Argungu also cited his home state of Kebbi as an example of an area where such technology could experience some hitches.
But barely 24 hours after their statements, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced that the party chairman was quoted out of context.
Morka stated that much as Adamu had tasked the INEC on its readiness to deploy the technology, the party remains committed to the highest levels of electoral transparency.
The statement read, “A section of the media is awash with comments credited to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu on the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the Results Viewing Portal, otherwise known as electronic transmission of election results, for the 2023 general elections.
“Media reports that chairman Adamu kicked against INEC’s decision to deploy BVAS and electronic transmission of results is patently false, and constitutes an unfair misrepresentation of the national chairman’s comments.
“At a meeting with the Commonwealth pre-election delegation, yesterday, Wednesday, November 23, 2022, in response to a question regarding the country’s preparations for next year’s election, the national chairman noted that while preparations were in top gear, he tasked INEC to take effective steps to bridge any gaps that may be created by electricity and telecommunications network challenges in certain outlying voting districts in the country in order to ensure a smooth and successful deployment of BVAS and other technologies to ensure free and transparent elections.”
But dismissing Abdullahi’s volte-face, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said technology had come to stay in the nation’s electoral process, warning those mounting pressure on INEC to desist.
“We know where the pressure is coming from but we must tell them that technology has come to stay; BVAS has come to stay. The whole world wants to witness free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria in 2023. Credible polls are impossible without the use of technology. INEC must not listen to these enemies of democracy. They must resist their antics as Nigerians are solidly behind the commission,” he admonished.
