The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Joash Amupitan, says voter impersonation and multiple voting have been effectively eliminated with the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.
Speaking through National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference in Abuja, the INEC Chairman said BVAS now serves as a “frontline defence” against identity fraud, describing it as a foolproof tool for accrediting eligible voters.
INEC backed its confidence with data from the recent Anambra governorship election, where 6,879 BVAS devices were deployed and more than 99 percent of polling unit results were uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal on election day.
Professor Amupitan noted that the Electoral Act 2022, particularly Section 47(2), has given legal backing to BVAS and other digital tools, transforming them from mere administrative guidelines into statutory components of the electoral process.
He admitted, however, that connectivity challenges persist across the country’s 176,846 polling units, especially in remote areas, and said the Commission is working with telecom regulators and providers to address the gaps.
The INEC Chairman ruled out any return to manual accreditation, insisting that the gains achieved through technology are too significant to reverse. He reaffirmed that the era of “ghost voters” is over and that the Commission remains committed to transparent, technology-driven elections.
