INEC To Resolve BVAS Challenges Before Ekiti, Osun Polls — Yakubu

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has said the Commission would resolve the challenges arising from the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) before the next rounds of elections.

Mr Yakubu stated this during a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He spoke against the backdrop of the malfunctioning of the BVAS during the February 12 area council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Although, INEC had expressed confidence in the device after last November governorship election in Anambra State, the system performed below expectation during the FCT poll as a result of which many people could not be accredited to vote.

Aside from the reports of dysfunctional BVAS during the FCT poll, PREMIUM TIMES also witnessed high congestion of voters in some PUs, among other inconsistencies.

Mr Yakubu acknowledged the challenges but assured that the Commission would resolve them before the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun polls in June and July, respectively, as well as the 2023 general elections.

“When the commission introduced the BVAS last year, the compact device was intended to achieve two objectives.

“First is the verification of the genuineness of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and the fingerprint or facial authentication of voters during accreditation.

“Secondly, to replace the Z-pad for uploading the polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time on election day. So far, the BVAS has performed optimally in verifying the authenticity of PVCs and uploading images of Polling Unit results to the IReV.

“We will review and improve its functionality for biometric accreditation of voters in the forthcoming by-elections and off-season governorship elections before the 2023 general election,” Mr Yakubu said.

He also promised that the commission would ensure further decongestion of polling units in coming elections.