Source: newsthemegh.com
The public is being advised by the Electoral Commission (EC) to ignore any article that suggests it paid $150 million for Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVRs) and Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) in 2020.
After Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, claimed in several articles that the election administration body had spent $150 million on BVDs, the EC responded.
In a statement released on Friday, April 26, the EC stated that it was important to note that the cost of the BVDs and BVRs that the commission will purchase in 2020 had previously been quoted at $300 million before the $150 million number was floated.
The EC went on to clarify that, as part of the voter registration and voter verification initiatives, the previous commission administration had budgeted and been approved to spend $56 million for the renovation of BVDs and BVRs, a data center, and security upgrades in June 2018.
“In fact, the total cost for 74,500 BVDs, 8,500 BVRs, a new data centre and a data recovery centre amounted to $68, 661,912.67.”
“The contract was specifically geared towards the conduct of the 2018 referendum and District Level Elections (DLE). The Voter Registration project included the refurbishment of 1,670 BVR kits and the procurement of 1,000 new BVDs while the Voter Verification Project included the refurbishment of 46,200 BVDs as well as the acquisition of 10,000 new BVDs.”
“However, the current administration of the Commission made a strategic decision to cancel the contract for the total refurbishment and the procurement of new BVDs, opting for a minimal maintenance arrangement,” the EC said.
The EC added that the present Commission applied to the PPA in 2020 and was granted permission to purchase additional BVDs, BVRs, a data center, and a data recovery center, based on their experience with the equipment in the 2019 DLE.
Full Statement Below:
