FCT Poll: Voters, Presiding Officers lament BVAS failure in some polling units

By Matthew Eloyi

Voters and Presiding Officers at some polling units in Karu Ward of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) have decried the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices to identify voters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council elections.

Despite the early arrival of voters, electoral officers, and security personnel, accreditation and voting were delayed in some polling units visited by our correspondent due to the faulty BVAS.

One of the voters, Ayuba Japhet who spoke with our correspondent at polling unit 017, Yeminya’aza Memorial Square, Jikwoyi Phase III, confirmed that the election has been peaceful but there are challenges with the BVAS devices failing to identify most of the voters.

In his words, “So far, the election has been peaceful but we have challenges with the BVAS device. The device is not able to capture some people and they cannot vote without being verified. We would have gone far if there was any other means of voting other than the BVAS.”

The Presiding Officer of polling unit 015, Jikwoyi Phase II, Kolawole Martins also confirmed that the election was going peacefully except for the fact that the BVAS could not identify some voters, thereby denying them their rights to vote.

The Presiding Officer of polling unit 118, Jikwoyi Phase III, Agada Charity also gave the same account as Kolawole.

This development left most of the voters stranded with some threatening to go home if the situation was not resolved.