Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said the Independent National Electronic Commission, INEC, has yet to guarantee Nigerians of the workability of the Bimodal Voter Acreditation System, BVAS.
It occurred a few days after the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu raised alarm about the planned deployment of the BVAS, for next year’s general elections.
Tinubu also responded opponents of his educational credentials, ridiculing them for spending their efforts on a wild goose hunt.
He appeared, yesterday, at Chatham House, London, where he revealed he was born on March 29, 1952, and that he has never disowned his real father.
Speaking at Chatham House, Tinubu said: “We are still building confidence in our democratic and voting system. INEC is yet to assure us during this election that electronic transmission, the technology being used for accreditation and the total vote count is reliable, dependable and assuring in our democratic process before we introduce a complicated element of ballot counting.”
It will be recalled that at a meeting with the pre-election delegation of the Commonwealth Election Observation Mission in Abuja last month, APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu had said: “Our concern is how ready we are to deploy some of these technologies as regards transmission because we are taking a major step in transmitting election results in real time.”
Speaking on why he was not doing live interviews, Tinubu said: “I see myself as a marketable individual. They want to use me to make money and I said no.”
Tinubu has repeatedly shunned invitation by Arise Television for town hall meetings for presidential candidates, and has been criticised by opponents over his alleged refusal to grant live interviews like his two major opponents, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
After his presentation, some members of the audience asked him questions bordering on insecurity, oil theft, education and economy and how he planned to address crises in those areas if he became president.
He subsequently assigned Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State to speak on how he plans to address insecurity, and the Director of Strategic Communication of the APC PCC, Dele Alake, to respond to the question on oil theft.
Tinubu also delegated his former Finance Commissioner, Wale Edun, to respond to how he would boost the economy, APC Women Leader, Betta Edu, on his plans for Health, and Speaker. House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Defence.
