Atiku Raises Cybersecurity Concerns Over Outdated BVAS OS

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the reported use of Android 10 on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, warning that the outdated operating system could expose Nigeria’s electoral process to cybersecurity and operational risks ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, raised the concerns following reported failures during the Osun State mock accreditation exercise on August 1, 2026, and comments by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode.

Bayode reportedly disclosed during an interview on Arise TV on Monday that BVAS, introduced into Nigeria’s electoral process in 2021, currently runs on Android 10.

In a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja on Tuesday, Atiku said Android 10 reached end-of-life status in 2023 and no longer receives regular security updates and patches.

He questioned why INEC had not upgraded the BVAS operating system ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly given the commission’s budget and the opportunity provided by forthcoming off-cycle elections to test an updated system.

Atiku described INEC’s handling of the issue as “suspicious,” alleging that the continued use of an outdated operating system could undermine the integrity of future elections.

He warned that vulnerabilities in legacy software could potentially be exploited to gain unauthorized access to BVAS devices and tamper with voter accreditation or polling unit result data before transmission.

The former Vice President also raised concerns about the transmission of polling unit results through public telecommunications networks to the INEC Result Viewing portal, arguing that outdated security and cryptographic components could increase the risk of attempts to intercept, block or manipulate electoral data.

Atiku further expressed concern about BVAS’ biometric functions, which rely on fingerprint and facial recognition for voter accreditation. He argued that an outdated framework could affect the system’s accuracy and resilience against attempts to circumvent its verification processes.

He also warned that software defects associated with legacy systems could cause application crashes during periods of heavy usage, potentially resulting in delays and disruptions during voter accreditation.

Atiku supported calls from cybersecurity experts for an independent and comprehensive audit of the BVAS hardware and software ahead of the 2027 elections. He argued that using an end-of-life operating system for critical electoral infrastructure could create an expanded attack surface and expose the electoral process to avoidable risks.