INEC Insists on Use of BVAS, IReV for 2023 Elections

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it would use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal for the 2023 general elections and others.

Chairman of the electoral umpire, Mr Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a two-day Master Trainers on Technologies training for 2023 polls in Abuja.

There have been reports lately that INEC is under pressure to jettison BVAS because it makes rigging of election results almost impossible.

The electoral body, worried about rigging and the snatching of ballot boxes during polls, came up with BVAS and the electronic transmission of results to a central portal accessible to electorates and observers.

This technology was deployed in the governorship elections in Edo, Osun and Ekiti States. The polls were adjudged as credible, with incidences of ballot box snatching at the barest minimum.

As the 2023 general elections draw closer, some politicians are reportedly looking for ways to stop the use of BVAS. Recently, INEC was taken to court over the matter, and when it looked like nothing good may come out of it, a call was made for the removal of Mr Yakubu.

At the event, organised in collaboration with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Nigeria, the commission’s chairman declared that BVAS and IReV “have come to stay as a means of voter accreditation and transmission of election results.”

According to him, these two initiatives have brought sanity into the electoral process in the country, noting that INEC will not bow to pressure to do away with them.

In her remarks, the Administrative Secretary for INEC Sokoto State, Hauwa Aliyu Kangiwa, explained that the workshop was put together to sensitise the general public at the grassroots on the necessity of peaceful polls, participation and ways to reduce invalid ballots.

“I implore you to pay attention to the new electoral legal framework and new technological innovations in the electoral process and communicate with them effectively,” she said.

Business Post gathered that the programme aims to facilitate a good outing for the participation of electorates at the polls, with emphasis on the need to encourage the electorates to collect their PVCs and also understand election day procedure as outlined by the commission.