INEC Deploys 5,130 BVAS, 1,328 Backup Devices for Osun Poll

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has increased the deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices for the August 15 Osun State governorship election to 5,130, while raising the number of backup machines to 1,328 to ensure smooth accreditation on election day.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Saturday during an interactive session with media executives in Osogbo, saying the decision followed concerns expressed by political parties and lessons learnt from the Commission’s mock accreditation exercise conducted across selected polling units in the state.

He explained that the mock exercise, carried out in Osogbo, Oriade and other local government areas, was designed to test the Commission’s technology under real election conditions ahead of the poll.

According to him, the exercise confirmed the efficiency of the BVAS, with voter accreditation taking between 30 seconds and two minutes through either fingerprint or facial recognition.

Responding to concerns over the initial deployment, Amupitan said the Commission reviewed its plans by increasing the number of devices from 4,427 to 5,130.

“Based on some concerns expressed by some political parties on the number of BVAS deployed to the state, we have increased the total number of BVAS for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 so as to service split polling units in large polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo,” he said.

He added that the number of backup devices had also been doubled from 664 to 1,328 to enable swift replacement of faulty machines during accreditation.

The INEC chairman said technical support engineers would be stationed across every Registration Area and Ward with standby BVAS devices to guarantee uninterrupted accreditation.

“What we saw today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and results manipulation is robust and fully operational,” he said.

Amupitan disclosed that 2,339,233 registered voters are expected to participate in the election across 3,763 polling units located in 320 wards and the state’s 30 local government areas.

He said 14 political parties would contest the governorship election, while about 32,000 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members recruited through the sanitised INECPRES portal had been engaged as ad hoc election personnel.

“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,” he said.

On election security, the INEC chairman said the Commission had shifted its strategy from reactive monitoring to proactive prevention through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

He said INEC was working closely with the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces and other security agencies to ensure the safety of election personnel, materials and voters.

“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 shielded from harm. We will meet any attempt to disrupt this election with the full, unyielding weight of the law,” Amupitan warned.

He also addressed the recent attacks on INEC offices in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area, and Ife Central, during which some Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were stolen.

Amupitan assured voters that the stolen PVCs could not be used to manipulate the election because accreditation depends on biometric verification through the BVAS.

“Without the live biometric verification of the legitimate cardholder on the BVAS, a stolen card cannot accredit anyone to vote,” he said.

He disclosed that the Commission had directed its ICT Department to reprint the stolen PVCs and make downloadable PVCs available to affected voters during the election.

On inclusiveness, Amupitan said INEC would provide Braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters, magnifying glasses for persons with low vision and albinism, special posters for hearing-impaired voters and priority voting arrangements for persons with disabilities, pregnant women, nursing mothers and the elderly.

He also urged media organisations to help curb the spread of misinformation and fake news ahead of the election.

“The greatest threat we face is not technical failure, but the pathology of misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, manufactured election-day panics, and the unauthorized declaration of parallel results are direct assaults on our public peace and democratic stability,” he said.

He advised journalists to verify information before publication and avoid portraying isolated incidents at polling units as widespread failures.

Reaffirming the Commission’s neutrality, Amupitan said INEC’s responsibility was to ensure that every valid vote counted and that the outcome reflected the will of the electorate.

“We do not care who wins the election; we only care how they win. Our sole job is to ensure that the process is clean, that every valid vote counts, and that the declaration reflects nothing but the true sovereign will of the Osun electorate,” he said.

The interactive session was attended by INEC National Commissioners, the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Oluwatoyin Babalola, leaders of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), and other senior officials of the Commission.