The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Cross River state has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of complicity in the delivery of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine that was supplied to the state by the national office of the Commission ahead of the 2023 general election
IPAC alleged on Tuesday that some of BVAS that were supplied to the state had made its way to the state Governors Lodge in Calabar
The council, which expressed the voncern during a combined meeting of INEC the security agencies and representatives of political parties therefore demanded to be allowed to inspect the BVAS by INEC
The IPAC demand, which was vehemently resisted by INEC, led to a sharp disagreement at the meeting, leading to the walk out of the IPAC leadership, headed by Anthony Biding from the meeting
However, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gabriel Yomere, at a meeting with security chiefs and representatives of political parties in Calabar on Tuesday, insisted that the 3,281 BVAS allocated to the state were intact.
“No BVAS left INEC office to any other place. INEC is fully in control. Preparation for the 2023 general elections is going on smoothly,” the REC noted
He said BVAS allocated to each state were distinct and would be configured at polling units, adding that no one was allowed to know where they are kept for security reasons following attacks on INEC offices.
He said only the police and DSS are allowed access to the location, adding, “There is nothing INEC is hiding.
“We know our BVAS. If Agba Jalingo (who made the allegation) can bring BVAS that belong to this office, I will resign my position. I did physical counting of the BVAS which have not been configured. So it will be useless for anyone to steal them.
“They are empty. They will be configured according to.polling units. What has been done is to test them for functionality.”
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Frank Inaku, confirmed that the BVAS were intact after the police and DSS inspected the machines.
