The decision of state electoral commissions to dump the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, in the conduct of local government polls has raised concerns over the integrity of election results in the country, THE WHISTLER reports.
The BVAS, an electronic device designed to read and authenticate voters using their permanent voters’ cards, was introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to bolster the integrity and efficiency of the results collation process.
Before the introduction of BVAS, collation of results was identified as a much-exploited weakness in the Nigerian election process since the country’s return to democratic civilian rule in 1999, as stated in a report by the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, titled, ‘COUNTING THE VOTES’ – a postmortem analysis of ward-level collation during the 2019 presidential election.
Relying on documentary evidence from 8,809 election observers accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the CDD report concluded: “In the 2019 elections, civil society observers all across Nigeria saw a collation process that was chaotic, vulnerable to manipulation and, in some locations, violently disrupted and unnecessarily opaque.”
The introduction of BVAS followed the amendment of the Electoral Act (2010) to allow for the introduction of electronic transmission of results.
It was expected that electronic transmission would reduce errors in the calculation process and improve the pace of collation.
BVAS was deployed in the 2023 general election and off-cycle elections conducted by INEC.
Amid reports of malfunctioning of the devices and legislative challenges, the use of BVAS in elections has been controversial. Judging by the issues that trailed the highly contentious 2023 general election, it is not certain that the innovation has improved the conduct of elections in the country.
The merit of the BVAS has further been called into question as state electoral commissions are jettisoning the technology for the conduct of local government elections.
THE WHISTLER reports that state electoral commissions which dumped the BVAS cited its “disappointing” and “unreliable” nature as the reason.
Recently, Professor George Chima, Chairman of Abia State Independent Electoral Commission, ABSIEC, announced that the November 2, 2024, local government election in the state would not be conducted with BVAS because of its ‘disappointing nature’.
“We know what happened to BVAS, we are not using BVAS,” Chima said while officially unveiling the timetable for the local government poll.
Before the just concluded local government election in Anambra State, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, had declared that it would not use the BVAS for the poll.
Mr Anthony Nnalue, Commissioner in charge of Information and Logistics, ANSIEC, noted that the BVAS was “unreliable” following the disappointing performance of the device in previous elections in the country.
Nnalue said the Commission would deploy manual accreditation, which he described as more reliable.
“We will not use BVAS but manual. BVAS is not reliable; it has distorted the electoral process in Nigeria. We do not want a situation where election results are tampered,” the Anambra electoral commission chairman said.
Benue State is set to conduct local government elections on October 5, 2025.
However, the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC, has disclosed it will not use BVAS in the election.
BSIEC chairman, Richard Tombuwua, said the Commission will use the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC Law – which does not have provision for use of BVAS – to conduct the election.
Other states that jettisoned the use of BVAS in recent local government polls include Oyo and Sokoto.
The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, OYSIEC, had, while explaining its inability to make use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, noted that BVAS is in the custody of INEC, and as a result, it will be difficult to get the device released for the local government poll.
Meanwhile, in all the local government elections organised by various state electoral commissions, the ruling parties have ended up sweeping all the contested positions.
In the latest incident, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA – the ruling party – was declared winner of the September 28, 2024 local government election in Anambra State, clearing all chairmanship and councillors seats across the 21 local government areas of the state.
Chairman of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, Genevieve Osakwe, while announcing the results in Awka, the state capital, noted that the Commission “carefully collated and analysed the results to ensure that there were no mistakes”.
But she added that none of the opposition candidates or political parties and their party agents came to the ANSIEC office where the election was declared. A development which suggested that the opposition parties and candidates saw the election as a mere formality.
In Imo State, the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission, ISIEC, declared that the All Progressives Congress, APC, won all 27 local government chairmanship seats and 305 councillors seats in the September 21, 2024 local government election. It was a similar scenario in Sokoto, where Alhaji Aliyu Suleiman, Chairman of the Sokoto State Independent Electoral Commission, announced that the APC won all 23 chairmanship positions and all councilorship seats across the state’s 23 local government areas in the September 21, 2024, local council election.
In Enugu, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won all 17 chairmanship positions and 260 councillors seats in the September 21, 2024 local government election.
The predictable outcome of local government elections across the states, amid the decision to jettison BVAS, as well as the controversies surrounding BVAS-enabled state and national elections conducted by INEC, has raised concerns over the integrity of election results in the country.
Speaking with THE WHISTLER, Executive Director of the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education, CHRICED, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, noted that elections in Nigeria – at all levels – may no longer be credible.
Zikirullahi expressed regrets that the electoral process in Nigeria has regressed – despite recent amendments to the Electoral Act.
Concerns As States Dump BVAS, Opt For Manual Collation is first published on The Whistler Newspaper