ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INEC BVAS 

Did you know that the need to make Nigerian elections more credible and transparent made the INEC to introduce the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)?

The 2023 election is different to previous ones because of the new system being used - the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a device introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2021 aimed at stopping election fraud.

The BVAS is essentially a small rectangular box with a screen that is more technologically advanced than the Smart Card Readers used in the past. The key benefit of the BVAS is that it has the capacity to perform dual identification of voters on election day through their fingerprints and facial recognition. This should stop people without valid Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from voting, as well as those who are ineligible to vote attempting to do so.

The device can also capture images of the polling unit result sheet (Form EC8A) and upload the image of the sheet on INEC’s Election Result Viewing platform (IReV), an online portal where results from polling units are uploaded, transmitted, and published for the public. The portal also allows members of the public to create personal accounts to gain access to polling units’ results uploaded on the platform as PDF files. 

BVAS works by scanning the barcode/QR code on the PVC/Voter’s register or entering the last six digits of the Voter Identity Number or typing in the last name of the voter by the Assistant Presiding Officer (APO 1) to verify and authenticate voters. It also works as the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) during voter registration. Its usage has also eliminated the use of incident forms during accreditation.

The uploads of vote results directly to the INEC results portal for all to see, in theory, means results cannot be tampered with. In the last two presidential elections the winner has been known on the third day after voting. But votes will be counted as soon as voting ends on Saturday 25 February. Those who stay behind at their polling station will have the result announced to them, but it is a long process before all the results work their way up to Abuja from the tens of thousands of polling units across the country. While BVAS might speed up the process this year, but INEC-appointed officials will still have to travel to Abuja from the 36 states with hard copies to be read aloud. Only then will the INEC chairman announce a winner - or that a second round is needed.

According to Prof. Mohammad Kuna, the Special Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, “With the nature of BVAS, the uploaded polling units (PUs) results cannot be manipulated. The machine was not designed to edit the photographic results uploaded and sent to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV); and once sent cannot be recalled,” he submitted.

In 1999, voter registration, voting, result-collation, and transmission were done manually. Fast forward to 2016, and voter registration, accreditation, and result transmission became digitalized, from the Electronic Voters Register (EVR) to the Automatic Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS), to the Smart Card Reader (SCR), and recently, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

The need to make Nigerian elections more credible and transparent made the INEC introduce BVAS. Although this technology has been around for some time, it was first tested in the Isoko South Constituency bye-election in Delta State on September 10, 2021. It was subsequently deployed in the Anambra State governorship election on November 6, 2021, and used again in the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections. 

Despite the concerns raised about the BVAS, especially by politicians, INEC has made it clear that there is no going back on its use in the 2023 General Election.

However, to reduce BVAS failure, experts have proffered that the device requires regular software updates and serviceable broadband access to function optimally. INEC has been advised to conduct a comprehensive audit of BVAS to prevent possible disenfranchisement of voters in the forthcoming elections. The electoral commission has also been advised to take immediate measures to enhance the infrastructure behind the technology.

Sources:

https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/everything-to-know-about-bvas-and-how-itll-be-deployed-for-2023-elections/jdb7nkz

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64187170

https://www.nigeriainfo.fm/news/homepagelagos/2023-general-election-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-bvas/