BIVAS will ensure credible elections if… — Ekiti LP chieftain

The coordinator of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in Ekiti State, Moses Jolayemi, on Saturday, said the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System by the Independent National Electoral Commission will ensure a free, fair and credible general election if “allowed to work.”

Nigeria holds its presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 25, 2023. Ahead of the presidential polls, three major candidates have emerged: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

But Jolayemi sees his principal, Obi, emerging victorious in Saturday's election, albeit with a caveat: BIVAS, an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards and authenticate voters, would deliver the presidency to the LP if INEC does not compromise its use.

The LP PCC coordinator said this while answering questions, alongside other party agents in the state, during a town hall meeting with journalists at Damlek Event Centre, Ado Ekiti.

He said, “If BIVAS is allowed to work, we will have credible, violence-free elections. If you look at the configuration of BIVAS from the point of voting, collation and announcing results there is no human intervention, with this, Peter Obi is the next president.”

Speaking on the chaos that has followed the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria's naira redesign policy, Jolayemi said the LP was in support of the retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government concerning the policy.

He noted that the challenges faced in its implementation were temporal and would phase out.

Meanwhile, the Director General of LP PCC, Balogun Akin Osuntokun, has assured Nigerians enjoined the 16 local government party agents present at the town hall meeting to intensify mobilisation for Obi, saying the LP candidate would frontally combat challenges bedevilling Nigerians.

He stressed that insecurity, hunger, scarcity/ high price of fuel per litre, high cost of consumables, strikes, unemployment and others would be tackled.

On her part, the women leader of LP in Ekiti State, Mrs Wendy Obi, charged Ekiti people to contribute to LP's victory at next Saturday's poll by voting massively for the party.

She said the APC and the PDP destroyed the country by leaving humongous debt for Nigerians yet unborn, adding that the LP would rebuild Nigeria.