The Electoral Commission (EC) has disputed the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu’s claim that the government has allocated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Commission.
Mr. Iddrisu had questioned the priorities of the government and the EC amid the novel coronavirus pandemic after alleging the allocation of PPE.
The EC in its statement however clarified that it had not received personal protective kits from the government.
“The Commission has not stated anywhere that it has received Personal and Protective Equipment (PPE) from the government as stated by the Minority Leader during the press conference. For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission has not received any protective equipment from the government.”
“The Commission finds it troubling that the leader of the Minority Party in Parliament will put out information of this nature without substantiating its authenticity.”
New register: We’ll observe safety protocols – EC
The Commission also clarified that it will observe the necessary protocols if it becomes necessary to compile a new register.
“All stakeholders are hereby reminded that plans are far advanced for the compilation of new voters register with a new voter management system for the upcoming 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections. The Commission is however sensitive to the current state of affairs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will abide by the necessary precautions and safety protocols in the execution of its mandate when it deems it appropriate to begin the compilation of the register.”
The EC has been under fire over its attempts to discard its old voter management system and procure a new system which will among other things have a facial recognition ability.
The Commission is also seeking to compile a new electoral roll.
The commission says it wants the electoral roll used on the election day to be more credible and efficient than the existing one which was used for the 2016 election.
It has thus moved to procure a new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS) to better address verification challenges that could occur during elections.
The process to compile a new roll has currently been suspended because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
