Mock Accreditation: Amupitan Expresses Satisfaction with BVAS Functionality

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has expressed satisfaction with the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) deployed during Saturday’s mock accreditation exercise conducted by the Commission ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.

Addressing journalists during an interactive session in Osogbo on Saturday, Amupitan said what his team observed during the accreditation exercise confirmed that INEC’s technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational.

He noted that the mock accreditation exercise is part of INEC’s quality assurance protocol, adding that it is designed to stress-test the Commission’s technological infrastructure under real-world field conditions before the actual election.

“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 fingerprints or facial recognition.

“Success rate: The dual-authentication nature of the BVAS has significantly minimised instances of non-verification, which was one of our primary goals.

“Based on concerns expressed by some political parties over 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 cater for split polling units in large PUs in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo.”

On vote-buying, Amupitan said plainclothes anti-corruption officers will monitor the perimeters of polling units to arrest both vote buyers and sellers, adding that INEC is partnering directly with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to track suspicious bank transactions.

“We may also leverage the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and we are in discussions with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on how to combat this menace. Plainclothes anti-corruption officers will monitor the perimeters of polling units to arrest both vote buyers and sellers.”

The INEC chairman, who harped on the need for a peaceful election, said the Commission has held strategic meetings with security agencies under the aegis of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

“We have received assurances that a specialised, non-partisan security deployment plan is in place to protect the integrity of the ballot and ensure that the citizens of Osun can exercise their franchise without fear.”

He assured persons with disabilities of the seamless exercise of their civic rights, adding that everything needed to ensure a hitch-free election has been put in place.