The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has increased the number of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices for the August 15 Osun State Governorship Election from 4,427 to 5,130.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this at the weekend in Osogbo during an interactive session with media executives ahead of the off-cycle election.
The commission has also doubled the number of backup BVAS units to 1,328 to ensure seamless voter accreditation across the state.
Amupitan said the adjustment, which followed concerns raised by some political parties, was also part of the lessons learnt from the mock accreditation exercise conducted across polling units in Osogbo, Oriade and other local government areas.
According to him, the commission conducted the mock accreditation as a “quality assurance protocol” to stress-test its technological infrastructure under real field conditions.
“The speed of accreditation: The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) demonstrated optimal field resilience. On average, it took between 30 seconds and two minutes to successfully verify a voter using either their fingerprints or facial recognition,” he said.
Explaining the decision to deploy more machines, Amupitan said: “Based on concerns expressed by some political parties about the number of BVAS devices deployed to the state, we have increased the total number of BVAS for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 to service split polling units in large polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo.
“In the process, we increased the number of backup devices from 664 to 1,328 for quick intervention in the event of any malfunction.”
He added that dedicated technical support engineers have been assigned backup BVAS devices in every Registration Area and Ward to ensure that any sudden field failure is immediately resolved.
“What we saw today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational,” he said.
The INEC Chairman also said the administrative blueprint for the August 15 election is ready, with 2,339,233 registered voters expected to vote at 3,763 polling units across 320 wards in the state’s 30 local government areas.
He said 14 political parties are contesting the election and that training for ad hoc staff is nearing completion. According to him, INEC will deploy 32,000 NYSC members recruited through the sanitised INECPRES portal.
“We did not want to speak to you from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja or rely solely on paperwork. We went to the theatres of operation to see for ourselves how our systems are holding up,” Amupitan said.
Addressing security concerns, the INEC Chairman said the commission has recalibrated its strategy from reactive monitoring to proactive prevention through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
“We are working closely with the Police and the Armed Forces to ensure that our staff, our materials, and, most importantly, every single voter are protected. We will meet any attempt to disrupt this election with the full, unyielding weight of the law,” he warned.
He also confirmed recent attacks on INEC offices in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area, and Ife Central, where Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were stolen.
“I wish to reassure the electorate and issue a stern warning to perpetrators that stolen PVCs are functionally inert under our system architecture. Without the live biometric verification of the legitimate cardholder on the BVAS, a stolen card cannot be used to accredit anyone to vote.
“I have directed the ICT Director to ensure the reprinting of the stolen PVCs and to ensure that affected voters are allowed to use the downloadable PVC, which will be available for this election.”
Speaking on inclusivity, Amupitan said: “Democracy is incomplete if it excludes vulnerable populations. The commission has integrated practical assistive devices across polling locations based on our disability mapping in Osun State. We have provided Braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters, magnifying glasses for voters with albinism and low vision, EC40H poster manifests for hearing-impaired citizens, and priority voting queues for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women, nursing mothers and the elderly.”
Urging the media to help curb misinformation ahead of the poll, Amupitan said: “The greatest threat we face is not technical failure but the pathology of misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, manufactured election-day panic, and the unauthorised declaration of parallel results are direct assaults on public peace and democratic stability.
“Verify your facts before you broadcast. When a glitch occurs in a single polling unit, do not report it as a systemic failure across the entire state.”
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