Prof. Joash Amupitan Led INEC Reveals What Will Happen If BVAS Fails During 2027 Election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said any technical failure involving the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will not automatically halt the collation of results in the 2027 elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday during a question-and-answer session at the commission’s world press conference and stakeholders meeting.
The Genius Media Nigeria reports that Amupitan made the clarification while responding to concerns over a possible recurrence of the technical difficulties that disrupted the transmission of polling-unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal during the 2023 general elections.
He said the commission was upgrading both the BVAS and IReV platforms to improve their performance ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, INEC has acquired 57,000 additional BVAS devices, equipped with inbuilt batteries, while many existing batteries are also being replaced.
“When we’re talking about technology upgrades, I told you that we are doing some work with regard to our BVAS and also our IReV to ensure optimal performance. It is not possible for BVAS to fail everywhere. We are doing everything possible; that is why we have even acquired an additional 57,000 BVAS, as well as inbuilt batteries.
“We are changing most of the inbuilt batteries to ensure that we don’t have any issues relating to the transmission of the results,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chairman explained that a failure to transmit results from an individual polling unit or a group of polling units would not stop voting or other electoral activities in unaffected areas.
“But if for any reason there is an inability to transmit from a particular polling unit or from a group of polling units, that will not stop the election from continuing in other places. But it is at the end of it all that you now determine the number of those that are involved,” he said.
Amupitan said collation could still proceed if the affected polling units did not have an impact on the overall outcome of the election.
“And if they do not affect the result of the election, that will not stop the collation. However, efforts will be made,” he stated.
He, however, stressed that the Electoral Act provides for an election to be postponed in a polling unit where BVAS fails and the problem cannot be resolved.
“Even under the Electoral Act, if the BVAS doesn’t work, the election will be postponed in that particular polling unit until the following day,” Amupitan said.
He also disclosed that INEC had strengthened its technical support system through its Registration Area Technical Support teams, known as RATECH, to respond to technical problems at polling units.
“And we have protocols and procedures through our RATECH (Registration Area Technical Support) to immediately intervene. So we have a lot of supporting BVAS with the RACTECH that will be able to intervene whenever there is any problem. And a very strong communication channel is maintained between the RACTECH and the polling units.
“So that problem will be solved. But if for any reason it cannot be solved, the election can be shifted to the following day,” he said.
