The Senatorial Candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno South, Kudla Satumari Haske has countered plans by some politicians for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to use the Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation Machine System (BIVAS) adding that the people of the state will resist such plans.
According to Haske, not only Borno, some politicians want to cajole the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into believing that electronic voting and transmission of election results cannot take place in areas where insecurity was experienced.
Reacting to an interview granted by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Sen Ali Ndume that his community in Borno South has no internet connectivity for electronic election conduct, Haske said their supporters who are from the same communities are participating actively and campaigning for them online.
“Even if I am not in the village, it is our supporters that always send links of stories to our WhatsApp lines. They have WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups and communicate with us even on Twitter.
“We will not allow what happened in 2019 to repeat again. We have internet connectivity in Borno South and Borno State. We will not keep quiet for some individuals to mislead the public and the electoral umpire. Elections can be held in every Borno community with the use of BIVAS.
“So, if anyone says there is no internet in my Senatorial District, it is not a true reflection of the situation.
“There will not be any challenge if BIVAS is used. BIVAS will improve election transparency. No one can rig this election if INEC uses BIVAS and that is what we want from INEC,” Haske said.
“I want to assure the people that in my local government, there is no community where there is no mobile communication. They want to bring in a narrative that elections cannot be held electronically.
“How can my people who are engaging us on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media platforms be said to be offline?
“Let INEC collaborate with the security agencies to do what they are supposed to do. When Jonathan extended the election and carried out extensive security operations, ” election was held in every part of Borno State. Now that the APC government said they have degraded the insurgents, we don’t want an excuse that BIVAS cannot be used,” Haske said.
The PDP Senatorial Candidate in Borno South said anyone saying that there is no internet connection in Gwoza and other part of Borno State is selling a wrong narrative.
“Our people and our party cannot accept what was done to use in 2019 where some people just write results without the actual voters captured. In Gwoza LGA, INEC released 55, 000 ballot papers for the senatorial election that has 59,506 registered voters but over 100,000 votes were produced. We can’t accept that anymore, ” Haske said.
Haske who alleged that it is not only in Borno State some politicians don’t want BIVAS to be use, but that in most parts of the North.
“It’s not only Gwoza, but they want to extend it to every northern state where there is insecurity. BIVAS must be used. Anything short of that will not be accepted by us. We will concentrate at the polling units and ensure what happens in the polling unit is announced.
“Anyone who think he want to manipulate the process to change the wishes of the people by not using BIVAS will be resisted. The governor of Adamawa was complaining about the sudden rise in insecurity. All these issues are coming up so that they can reduce PDP votes in the North East,” Haske added.
