By Balarabe Oshiafi
The institute of forensics and certified fraud investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) and the interparty advisory council (IPAC) yesterday, singed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be delivering complaints-free elections to the citizenry.
During the signing of the MOU, the Chairman of the governing council of CIFCFIN, Dr Iliyasu Buba Gashinbaki
avered that all hands must be on deck to “safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s
democracy through the collective effort of the 19 registered political parties,
under the leadership of IPAC”.
A release made available to ExpressDay quotes Gashinbaki as rationalizing the MOU thus:
“The partnership between the Institute and IPAC is pursuant to the provisions of Section 29 (2 & 6) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates candidates to submit an affidavit affirming their eligibility and also outlines the
disqualification of candidates with regards to falsification of documents,
which leads to multiple of hundreds of electoral cases within the past 25
years since 1999″
On the scope of the Partnership, the forensic institute said, “through this partnership, the following protocols have been established and
will be implemented across 19 registered political parties in Nigeria, having been approved by the IPAC general assembly for adoption. It is intended that the total of 11,079 political elected offices in Nigeria, from office of the Ward Councillors to the President.
“Established Protocols for the IPAC-CIFCFIN Partnership. Through these established protocols, individual political parties will subject
their candidates for forensic review and analysis, following these process:
“Inclusion of forensic technologies in the guidelines of political parties
All political parties will now integrate forensic analysis within their
operational guidelines. This ensures that every document, credential,
and piece of information associated with candidates is rigorously
examined for authenticity and accuracy.
The Chairman also said that the partnership will make for forensic authentication of candidate credentials in that “before primary
elections, the credentials of all candidates will undergo thorough
forensic authentication. This process not only verifies the authenticity of
documents but also ensures that any potential discrepancies are
identified and addressed early, thereby preventing any form of
electoral fraud.
A detailed forensic report will be
generated and provided to political parties. This report will allow them
to make informed decisions, ensuring that only candidates with verified
and credible credentials proceed in the electoral process”
Speaking on the specific “technical assistance for INEC”, he said, “To further enhance the credibility and transparency of Nigeria’s elections, this
partnership will extend technical assistance to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), focusing on improving the entire electoral value
He gave insights as to how they will add value to voting management: ” Our collaboration will strengthen the
integrity of the voting process by implementing real-time management
systems. This will help monitor voting activities, ensure compliance with
electoral laws, and minimise the potential for vote manipulation”
Regarding transmission of results, he said, “our partnership will guarantee the secure and
accurate transmission of votes through real-time, encrypted systems that protect the data from tampering. This ensures that the results
transmitted from polling units to central collation centres reflect the
true will of the voters”
On aggregation and declaration of Results the institute had this to say, “By applying advanced digital
technologies, we will enable the verification of final results against
transmitted data in real-time, ensuring consistency and transparency.
This will help verify that the aggregated results genuinely reflect the
votes cast by the electorate
The council Chairman summed up this: “this collaboration between CIFCFIN IPAC and Political Parties will significantly elevate the standards of Nigeria’s electoral processes, fostering greater public trust and confidence”.
