Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, said Nigeria has effectively overcome the longstanding problem of voter impersonation through the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
However, he said network constraints in parts of the country continue to pose operational challenges.
Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman, Dayo Oketola, said Prof. Amupitan made the assertion while speaking at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Represented by National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu, the INEC Chairman maintained that BVAS has become a “foolproof mechanism” that has finally shut the door on identity theft, multiple voting and other accreditation-related malpractices.
“The BVAS device has become our frontline defence against identity fraud, ensuring that only the rightful, eligible voter can be accredited at the polling unit. With the biometric safeguards now in place, voter impersonation has been effectively eliminated from our electoral system,” he said.
Addressing an audience of technology experts, policymakers and civil society actors, Prof. Amupitan cited figures from the recent Anambra Governorship election to reinforce his point.
He said all 6,879 BVAS devices deployed for the poll recorded commendable performance, with more than 99 per cent of polling unit results uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal IReV on Election Day.
These outcomes, he noted, demonstrate that BVAS and IReV are now entrenched components of Nigeria’s electoral architecture.
He also noted the significance of the Electoral Act 2022, particularly Section 47(2), which, he said, transformed digital tools from administrative conveniences into statutory instruments of election conduct.
“This legislative foundation ensures that our digital tools have both operational and legal legitimacy. It has strengthened public trust and enabled the Commission to innovate with confidence,” he stated.
According to him, while BVAS has effectively curtailed impersonation and multiple voting, network availability remains one of the Commission’s biggest challenges.
With 176,846 polling units spread across difficult terrains, including riverine communities, mountainous regions and remote settlements, achieving real-time result uploads remains a considerable hurdle.
“A tool like the BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on,” he said, adding that the Commission continues to engage the Nigeria Communications Commission NCC and telecom operators while exploring alternative technological solutions to address connectivity gaps.
Despite the challenges, Prof. Amupitan dismissed any notion that INEC might revert to the manual accreditation system, insisting that the Commission’s commitment to technology is irreversible.
Manual procedures, he said, remain “vulnerable to human interference” and fall short of the transparency required in modern elections.
“The gains we have recorded are too significant to reverse,” he declared, outlining the Commission’s plan not only to sustain current innovations but also to enhance them through more advanced solutions.
Reaffirming that the era of “ghost voters” was over, the INEC boss said the Commission remains committed to ensuring that every eligible voter is accurately verified, every ballot correctly counted and every result transparently shared.
(Vanguard)
