2023 Polls: Things Nigerians should Know Before Casting their Votes
By Idris Umar Feta,
In less than 48 hours from now, voters in the country will head to the polls to elect Nigeria’s next President, amid worsening insecurity and biting economic hardship, aggravated by the lingering fuel scarcity and naira scarcity.
At the moment, Nigerians are eagerly awaiting to vote in a leader who they believe is endowed with the capacity to improve their fortunes, in the next four years.
Whatever the case maybe, Saturday is going to be the road to the beginning of a new era for Nigerians, and whoever emerges victorious to pilot the affairs of the nation. Before that, Nigerians need to know these eight (8) things before they cast their votes.
*Number of Presidential Candidates*
Though only about three candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Party, APC, Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, are widely recognized, Nigerians should know that there are 18 presidential candidates in the coming election on Saturday.
*Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC)*
In order to vote, you need to have a valid Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), which essentially shows that you are registered to vote.
Furthermore, the card is used to prove the identity of the Voter. Every voter has to collect their Permanent Voters Registration card (PVC) to be eligible to exercise their franchise.
*Polling Units*
There are a total of 176,846 polling units across Nigeria, spread across all Local Governments and wards. A polling unit is an electoral unit created by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the purpose of registration of voters and/or voting.
In simple terms, a polling unit means the place, enclosure, booth, shade or house at which voting takes place. No voter shall vote in any other location except by making themselves available at the units and in the manner prescribed by the Commission.
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Nigeria has 774 local government areas (LGAs) and each is administered by a local government council consisting of a chairman, who is the chief executive, and other elected members who as referred as councilors.
*Duration of the Poll*
According to Independent National Electoral Commissions, INEC rule, to cast your ballot, you need to arrive at the polling station between the hours of 08:00 and 14:00 with your PVC.
As long as you are on the queue to vote on or before 14:00, you will be allowed to cast your ballot.
*The BVAS*
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is a device introduced by INEC in 2021, aimed at stopping election fraud and other malpractices.
The BVAS is essentially a small rectangular box with a screen that is more technologically advanced than the Smart Card Readers, used in the past.
The key benefit of the BVAS is that it has the capacity to perform dual identification of voters on Election Day through their fingerprints and facial recognition software.
This would stop people without valid PVCs from voting, as well as those who are ineligible to vote and are attempting to do so.
Another aspect of the BVAS is that it uploads vote results directly to the INEC results viewing portal for all to see, which in theory means results cannot be tampered with while enroute from polling units to collection centres.
*Accreditation*
Unlike in previous elections where accreditations are done manually, especially in those of 2015-2019 using ‘Smart Card Reader’, this year’s shall be done electronically with the aid of BVAS, thanks to technological advancement.
Therefore, electorates should brass themselves for the new experience.
*Presidential, Senate and House of Reps Election*
The 2023 general election is already on our door steps. Nigerians will choose their representatives at all levels but worthy of note is that this Saturday’s exercise is only for Presidential, Senate and the House of Representatives.
*Nigerians in Diaspora*
Nigerians abroad have at some point voiced out and urged the electoral commission to consider including them in the voting process.
Unfortunately, come 25th February, like previous elections, Nigerians living in Diaspora will not be able to participate in the voting exercise.
