2023 Elections: BVAS Will Address Money Politics In Nigeria – Keyamo

The Minister for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has said that the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, will help to reduce money politics from the 2023 polls.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, stated this when he appeared at the News Agency of Nigeria forum in Abuja on Sunday.

Keyamo also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the introduction of electronic transmission of results from polling units.

He said with the introduction of the two technologies into Nigeria elections, gone were the days where electoral officers and security agencies were being paid to change results at collation centres.

He said before now, money was being used to bribe security agencies and electoral officials to alter results, but BVAS will take that away.

Keyamo described BVAS as a blessing to the Nigeria electoral System.

“Let’s be honest. You can see it in one or two isolated units, can you buy 40 million votes?

“You see in one or two units people sharing money, you now say the whole election is tinted. That is not true. You can’t buy so many votes.

“Even when you give people money to go and give to voters, they rather pocket the money; they will not give them, they would rather beg them. So that’s the truth.

“The money they used those days was to bribe security agents; when they bring results to polling unit collation centres, they would drive everybody, switch off light, switch papers before you come, abracadabra has happened.

“For me, BVAS is a blessing. BVAS is a blessing because it will deemphasize money in politics.

“From the unit level straight to the central server in Abuja, you can access the central server from the ward collation center but you cannot change it, but you can enter and see what has been transmitted to Abuja.

“So when the wrong copy comes from the unit, you can compare and say this is what has been transmitted to Abuja.

“Who do you want to bribe there? Nobody.

“So for me, even BVAS has reduced the issue of money in politics, and I love that,” he said.