INEC Upgrades BVAS to Prevent Manipulation of Election Results – Chairman

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) now contains essential technological safeguards to prevent election result manipulation, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

During a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and the inauguration of Dr. Chukwu Joseph as the REC for Abia on Wednesday in Abuja, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN) revealed this information.

According to Amupitan, the improvements were made expressly to protect the result management system and guarantee the accuracy of data sent to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

“We have made improvements to our outcome management system, which I must not overlook.

“We have determined that the actual collation of the results at multiple levels poses a greater threat to our election process than simply voting at the polling places.

“To prevent any kind of manipulation of the results that will be sent to IREV, we have implemented certain safeguards to the BVAS system,” he stated.

According to Amupitan, the presiding officer must now take a picture of the filled-out Form EC8A and upload it to the IReV as part of the upgrading.

He went on to say that the presiding officer must also input each political party’s score straight into the BVAS system.

To make sure that the total number of votes cast does not surpass the number of accredited voters, the BVAS system conducts internal validation checks.

Mathematically, the entered figures are consistent. He stated that excessive voting is automatically detected and cannot be resolved.

According to Amupitan, the upgrades were put to the test during the polls for the Kano and Rivers States Constituencies as well as the FCT Area Council on Saturday.

He mentioned that the election results were posted to IREV and verified to be accurate.

“As of right now, 97 percent of the FCT Area Council election results have been uploaded to IREV,” he stated.

Additionally, the INEC Chairman revealed that INEC would shortly begin reviewing its rules and policies for the 2027 election.

A claim of election result tampering at the Kuroko Health Center voting station in Kwali Area Council during the Saturday FCT area council election was likewise deemed false and inaccurate by Amupitan.

He clarified that a presiding officer’s clerical error in recording 122 for a party instead of 121 was discovered after an examination into the web sensation.

She also made verbal corrections to the figures. At the Ward Collation, the accurate and correct result was thereafter dutifully recorded into the collation form EC8B.

The FCT REC had to issue a press release regarding the occurrence and a few other examples where there were changes due to the investigation’s findings.

“I must tell you all that Nigerians are looking to us with increased anticipation and scrutiny, even though there is no perfect election.”

Amupitan stated, “I must emphasize that there is no room for error or excuse in this crucial process.”

The head of INEC also said that a revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election would be released shortly after the Electoral Act 2026 was passed on February 13.

In order to strengthen the integrity of the voter registration, he also said that the Commission would shortly start a revalidation process to guarantee a “thorough clean-up.”

The previous warning was sent out in accordance with the previous legislation. We must make certain changes and release an updated schedule for the general election in 2027 in light of the new Electoral Act.

The revalidation procedure for our voters must also be mentioned.

“In order to further sanitize and strengthen the integrity of the register in preparation for the 2027 General Election, the commission will shortly begin a comprehensive clean-up,” he stated.

Additionally, Amupitan mentioned that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) second phase was still in progress and would run through April 17.

“The CVR exercise will be completed on August 30 and is expected to last for a full year,” he stated.

Additionally, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) across the country have been instructed by Prof. Joash Amupitan, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to step up voter education and sensitization in advance of the general elections in 2027.

During a meeting with RECs and the swearing-in of Dr. Chukwu Chukwuemeka Joseph, the new REC representing Abia, Amupitan issued the directive on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ahead of the 2027 elections, he also asked voters nationwide to locate their polling units (PUs) using the INEC tools that are currently available.

Voter indifference remained a major issue that required “continuous, not episodic” participation, the chairman said, despite a slight improvement in voter turnout during the most recent FCT Area Council elections.

Despite a little improvement in the FCT, voter indifference was still evident in the turnout.

Voter turnout increased from 9.4% in 2022 to almost 15% in this election, with over 239,000 people voting compared to 148,685 in 2022.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to increase voter confidence and engagement,” he stated.

Amupitan clarified that no voters were relocated in 2026 in response to the public concern over purported “voter migration” in the Federal Capital Territory.

He clarified that in 2022, the Voters’ Initiative was redistributed with the goal of increasing access by clearing out 12,000 polling places and constructing more than 56,000 new ones across the country.

Amupitan clarified that INEC did not relocate voters to a different neighborhood, stating that in order to minimize crowding and enhance the voting experience, the new PUs were situated within the same building, just a few meters from the previous ones.

“Approximately 6.7 million voters were redistributed from approximately 12,000 congested polling units to new 17,000 less congested ones across the country in 2022 in order to populate the newly created units, many of which initially had zero registered voters,” he said.

About 580,000 voters were moved to 1,156 polling places after 411 polling places in the FCT alone were cleared of congestion. Not in 2026, but four years ago in 2022, that exercise was conducted.

He claimed that the same FCT electors cast ballots in those polling places in the general election of 2023.

Amupitan recalled that INEC learned that several voters had reported that their voting places had been moved in 2022 but that they were having trouble finding the new ones during the mock accreditation on February 7 in the FCT.

The INEC chairman further noted that, before to the election, he promptly ordered that impacted FCT voters receive new emails and texts, particularly those whose polling places were moved in 2022.

He claims that this will act as a reminder to make sure that everyone who is eager to cast a ballot can easily find their polling places, particularly for the benefit of those who did not cast ballots in the general elections of 2023.

“The Polling Unit Locator at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/pu, which may easily assist people in finding the polling unit, was included in the texts and emails received.

“In order for voters to verify their names prior to the FCT election, I also ordered that the voter register be re-displayed in all impacted polling places for a minimum of four days,” he added.

According to Amupitan, some voters still had trouble finding their voting places despite extensive advertising, the display of the Register of Voters, and the distribution of emails and texts to impacted people in the days leading up to the election.

According to him, the development suggested that INEC’s policies and intentions might be good, adding that “the objective is only half achieved if citizens do not understand our processes.”

Therefore, I give all RECs instructions to step up voter education and awareness campaigns in their states. Episodic voter awareness is unacceptable. It needs to be ongoing.

“The commission’s online Polling Unit Locator at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/pu should be used by citizens to confirm their polling unit details well in advance of elections.”Before election day, they should, if required, physically visit their polling places.

“We need to start spreading this important information right away so that people who didn’t cast ballots in the general elections in 2023 can find their polling places in advance,” he stated.