By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The ten-year tenure of the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has been described as an era that witnessed far-reaching innovations that reshaped transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
This disclosure was contained in two comprehensive publications titled “Election Management in Nigeria: 2015–2025” and “Innovations in Electoral Technology: 2015–2025”, prepared by the electoral body and released at the weekend.
The era of Yakubu as INEC Chairman between 2015 and 2025, witnessed the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), and the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) among others.
It was disclosed in the publications by INEC that the last decade deepened the use of technology, strengthened the legal framework, expanded voter access, and improved transparency as well as the citizens’ trust in elections.
Prof Yakubu stepped down as INEC Chairman last week after spending 10 years as the Chairman of the commission.
Already a professor of Law and University don, Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan has been nominated as a replacement for Prof Yakubu.
Amupitan is currently waiting for his screening and approval by the Senate.
The electoral body, in the publications, specifically describing the period between 2015 and 2025 as one of the most transformative in the nation’s electoral history.
Under the tenure of Prof Yakubu, INEC conducted two general elections, those of 2019 and 2023, alongside 19 off-cycle governorship polls and hundreds of supplementary and bye-elections across 4,500 constituencies nationwide.
The immediate past Chairman of INEC, in his foreword in the publications, revealed that the Commission grappled with persistent issues such as electoral violence, vote buying, and court injunctions.
According to the publications, “The decade between 2015 and 2025 has been one of the most momentous in the history of election management in Nigeria.
“Measured, custom-tailored and forward-looking reforms, driven by lessons learnt and peer review processes, were ultimately meant to improve the conduct of elections and trust in the electoral process.
“Issues such as multiple litigations in which the Commission is joined, conflicting court orders, and logistical challenges have posed serious threats to the smooth conduct of elections. “Nevertheless, the Commission responded with reforms, stakeholder engagement, and improved coordination with security agencies,” he said.
The two publications chronicled how Yakubu’s administration consolidated Nigeria’s shift from a largely manual to a fully digital election management system.
INEC, under Prof Yakubu, deployed the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) in 2021 to modernise voter registration through biometric and facial capture, replacing outdated data capture machines. This was similarly complimented by the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) Online Portal, which allowed citizens to pre-register remotely — a first in Nigeria’s electoral history.
To strengthen integrity during accreditation, INEC introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2021, which authenticates voters using fingerprint and facial recognition and uploads polling unit results directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) for public access.
The Commission pointed out in the publications that these tools, backed by the 2022 Electoral Act, ushered in a new era of transparency and public ownership of the process.
According to a report in one of the publications, “Technology became the invisible yet invaluable infrastructure for conducting credible elections through voter authentication, logistics coordination, and real-time result viewing”.
The report listed other innovations launched during the tenure of Prof Yakubu to include; the Election Results Management System (ERMS), Collation and Returning Officers Management System (CROMS), INEC Operations Management and Information System (IOMIS), and Political Finance Reporting and Auditing System (PFRAS), designed to improve result storage, staff management, and party finance transparency.
During this period, INEC successfully expanded polling units for the first time in 25 years, increasing the number from 119,974 to 176,846, thereby improving voter access and reducing overcrowding.
The reports further showed that the Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s era was marked by reforms aimed at professionalising election administration and widening participation, revealing that the INEC School (INECSCH) and the Virtual Electoral Training System (VETS), digital learning platforms used to train ad hoc staff, were established withing same period.
The reports showed that notwithstanding the various achievements recorded, INEC’s work was not without challenges as persistent insecurity, electoral violence, vote buying, multiple court injunctions, and logistics disruptions occasionally undermined elections, were recorded.
The Commission, according to the immediate past Chairman, suffered attacks on over 50 of its offices between 2019 and 2023, adding quickly that INEC responded with innovation, resilience, and reform.
