BVAS will work optimally during governorship elections, INEC assures Nigerians

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will “run optimally” during the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections.

There were hitches with the technology during the presidential and national assembly elections on February 25, leading to criticism of the electoral body and rejection of the results by the opposition parties.

Speaking on Saturday in Abuja, Yakubu Mahmood, the INEC chairperson, said in spite of the challenges, BVAS “will once again be deployed” for voter accreditation and result management.

He said: “The deployment of BVAS has gone a long way to sanitise voter accreditation as can be seen from the result of recent elections. Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally.

“Once again, the Commission would like to appreciate the patience and understanding of Nigerians. We do not take this for granted. We equally appreciate the patriotism of political, traditional, religious and community leaders that appealed for calm.

“Similarly, the Commission appreciates the role of heads of election observation missions, some of whom are still in the country. We appeal to such missions to consider extending their observations to the Governorship and State Assembly elections not only because they form an integral part of the General Election for which they are accredited but also because they are as important as the national elections.

“In the same vein, the Commission appreciates all domestic observers for their preliminary reports which will help us enormously as we conclude the 2023 General Election. We look forward to the full reports.”

The INEC chairperson said the commission will “work harder to overcome the challenges experienced” in the last election.

He said refresher training will be conducted for the ad hoc staff “so that processes are not delayed or compromised at any stage”.