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Says any attempt to disrupt polls will be resisted
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has increased the number of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, devices for the August 15 Osun State Governorship Election from 4,427 to 5,130.
The Commission has similarly doubled backup units to 1,328 to ensure seamless accreditation across the state.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Saturday in Osogbo during an interactive session with media executives, with fifteen (15) days to the election.
Amupitan explained that the adjustment which followed concerns raised by some political parties, was also part of the lessons from the mock accreditation exercise conducted earlier across polling units in Osogbo, Oriade and other LGAs.
He said that the Commission conducted the mock accreditation as a “quality assurance protocol” to stress-test the technological infrastructure under real field conditions.
His words, “The speed of accreditation: The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) demonstrated optimal field resilience. On average, it took between 30 seconds to 2 minutes to successfully verify a voter using either their fingerprints or facial recognition”.
On the decision to deploy more machines, the Chairman explained:
“Based on some concerns expressed by some political parties on the number of BVAS deployed to the State, we have increased the total number of BVAS for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 so as to service split polling units in large PUs in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North, Osogbo.
“In the process, we increased the number of back-ups from 664 to 1,328 for quick intervention in case of any malfunction”, he said.
He revealed that dedicated technical support engineers have been assigned backup BVAS devices across every Registration Area, Ward, “to ensure that any sudden field failure is instantly neutralized.”
“What we saw today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and results manipulation is robust and fully operational,” Amupitan stated.
The INEC Chairman said the administrative blueprint for August 15 is ready, with 2,339,233 registered voters expected to vote in 3,763 Polling Units across 320 Wards and 30 Local Government Areas.
He disclosed that 14 political parties are contesting the election and that training for ad-hoc staff is wrapping up. INEC will deploy 32,000 NYSC members recruited through the sanitised INECPRES portal.
“We did not want to speak to you from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja or rely solely on paperwork. We went to the theatres of operation to see for ourselves how our systems are holding up,” he said.
Amupitan, while addressing the issue of security concerns, said that INEC has recalibrated its strategy “from reactive monitoring to proactive prevention” through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES”
He added, “We are working closely with the Police and the Armed Forces to ensure that our staff, our materials, and most importantly, every single voter, are shielded from harm.
“We will meet any attempt to disrupt this election with the full, unyielding weight of the law,” he warned.
He confirmed recent attacks on INEC offices in Okuku, Odo-Otin LGA and Ife Central where PVCs were stolen.
“I wish to reassure the electorate and issue a stern warning to perpetrators that stolen PVCs are functionally inert under our system architecture. Without the live biometric verification of the legitimate cardholder on the BVAS, a stolen card cannot accredit anyone to vote,” he said.
“I have directed the ICT Director to ensure a reprint of the stolen PVCs and/or ensure that the affected voters are allowed to use the downloadable PVC, which will be available during this election.”
On inclusivity, the Chairman said: “Democracy is incomplete if it excludes vulnerable populations. The Commission has integrated practical assistive devices across polling locations based on our disability mapping in Osun State. We have provisions for braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters; magnifying glasses for voters with albinism and low vision; EC40H poster manifests for hearing-impaired citizens and Priority Voting Queues for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly.”
Prof. Amupitan urged the media to help curb misinformation ahead of the poll.
“The greatest threat we face is not technical failure, but the pathology of misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, manufactured election-day panics, and the unauthorized declaration of parallel results are direct assaults on our public peace and democratic stability,” he said.
“Verify your facts before you broadcast. When a glitch occurs in a single polling unit, do not report it as a systemic failure across the entire state.”
He concluded thus: “INEC is an independent, neutral, and dispassionate umpire. We do not care who wins the election; we only care how they win. Our sole job is to ensure that the process is clean, that every valid vote counts, and that the declaration reflects nothing but the true sovereign will of the Osun electorate.”
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