The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the data back-up of the BVAS was an internal affair of the commission and not open to inspection by parties.
“The reconfiguration or data back-processes of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines is strictly an internal affair of the Independent National Electoral Commission, that no external eyes are allowed to witness.
Of course, political parties are free to witness a test-run of the BVAS, and they did during the mock accreditation exercise that we carried out before the general elections.
“However, it is really, really curious that the Labour Party would express any desire to witness such an activity. What exactly do they want to see? Would the party also want to witness when ballot papers and result sheets are designed and printed?
“It is like students demanding to be present when their teachers are determining examination questions. While the commission appreciates and maintains a very cordial relationship with the Inter-Party Advisory Council, the boundaries are well defined and known to both parties,” Oyekanmi said.
Asked when INEC will complete the BVAS reset and storage of data in the back-up, Oyekanmi said “about three days.”
