By Myke Agunwa, Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), has declared that the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has effectively ended the persistent problem of identity theft in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Prof. Amupitan made the declaration in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions, organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). He was represented at the event by Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, a National Commissioner of the Commission according to a statement on Tuesday by Dayo Oketola, CPS to the INEC Chairman.
According to the INEC Chairman, the era of multiple voting, voter impersonation, and identity fraud is “over,” insisting that BVAS has become a foolproof mechanism for voter verification at polling units nationwide.
“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,” Prof. Amupitan said. “With the biometric safeguards now in place, voter impersonation has been effectively eliminated from our electoral system.”
Speaking before an audience of technology innovators, policy makers, and civil society leaders, the INEC Chairman backed his claim with data from the recently concluded Anambra Governorship Election. He disclosed that all 6,879 BVAS devices deployed for the poll performed impressively, with over 99% of polling-unit results uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on Election Day.
“These outcomes confirm that the deployment of BVAS and IReV is no longer experimental but an entrenched part of Nigeria’s electoral architecture,” he said. “The figure announced at the polling units is the same figure visible to the public. Technology has safeguarded the vote.”
Prof. Amupitan, a 2004 University of Iowa Fulbright Visiting Scholar, also noted that previous technologies deployed by the Commission lacked statutory backing and were easily challenged during election petitions.
He credited Section 47(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 for transforming devices like BVAS from administrative tools into “legally protected pillars of the electoral system.”
Despite the strides made through technology, the INEC boss admitted that challenges remain, particularly connectivity issues in remote locations. He said some of Nigeria’s 176,846 polling units are situated in difficult terrains such as swamps, mountains, and hard-to-reach communities, making real-time result upload a difficult task.
“A tool like the BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on,” he said, noting that INEC is working closely with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecom operators while exploring alternative technologies to address the gaps.
Prof. Amupitan, however, ruled out any return to manual accreditation, warning the political class that the Commission would not reverse the gains recorded so far.
“The gains we have recorded are too significant to reverse,” he said. “Manual accreditation was vulnerable to human interference. We are not going back.”
He reaffirmed that the era of “ghost voters” and inflated voter figures was gone for good and that the Commission would continue to upgrade its digital infrastructure for even greater efficiency.
As the conference concluded, the INEC Chairman reiterated the Commission’s mission:
“To ensure that every eligible voter is accurately verified, every vote is properly counted, and every result is transparently shared. Technology has helped us secure these foundations of democracy.”
