Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, National Chairman of the NDC, questions the EC’s claim of no missing Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs), implying deliberate withholding by someone within the system. His remarks come after the Minority in Parliament alleged on March 19 that some BVDs were missing from the Electoral Commission’s possession.
Asiedu Nketiah, speaking on Asempa FM, contested the EC’s claim that only five laptops were missing and all BVDs remained intact. He argued that BVDs are traceable due to built-in tracking capabilities and couldn’t disappear without a trace. Nketiah criticized the EC for failing to pinpoint the responsible party despite closely monitoring device distribution and collection.
“The BVDs are not missing, someone is keeping them. Because if you say they are missing, there are trails for you to zero into the person who has the ones that are missing. If you were able to do that and arrest the culprit, you would have been fair. But if you come out to tell us that the BVDs are missing, it will not work,” he said.
Asiedu Nketiah proposed initiating a technical audit of the EC’s IT system by external partners to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
He stressed the importance of certification to guarantee the security and proper functioning of all components, emphasizing transparency in the electoral system.
“It’s hard to trust the Electoral Commission’s claims about the missing BVDs. These devices have trackers from distribution to collection, making this issue more critical than missing ballot papers.”
Nketiah added that the purported disappearance of BVDs could jeopardize the elections as they play a vital role in aggregating and announcing results.
Read Also: EC: Stolen Laptops Won’t Compromise Election Integrity
