Explainer: What is BVAS? How will INEC deploy it for 2023 elections and why are lawmakers against it?

Ahead of the 2023 general election, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reiterated that there is no going back on the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

In a statement on November 16, 2022, exactly 100 days to the general elections, the INEC chairman promised Nigerians a fair and credible election which he said will be enhanced by the deployment of BVAS and IRev.

He said: “As I have said repeatedly, the Commission’s allegiance is to Nigeria. Our loyalty is to Nigerians who want free, fair, credible and verifiable elections supported by technology, which guarantees transparent accreditation and upload of polling unit results for citizens to view in real-time on Election Day.

“It is for these reasons that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) were introduced. There is no going back on the deployment of BVAS and IReV for the 2023 General Election.”

So, what are BVAS and IReV?

BVAS is an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters through fingerprint verification. It is designed to prove that the holder of the card is the right owner and duly eligible to vote at a particular polling unit.

When voters get to the polling unit, they are expected to hand over their PVCs to the Assistant Presiding Officer who will use the BVAS device to authenticate the validity of the card by scanning the QR code. The officer will then verify that the card bearer is the real owner by authenticating their fingerprint. When this is done, the card bearer will then be allowed to vote.

BVAS is also integrated into the IReV system which allows for results to be uploaded to the INEC server after collation at the polling units. 

As Yakubu said, BVAS will be used “to replace the Z-pad for uploading the polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time on election day.”

After voting and collation of results in each polling unit, the results will be entered into the BVAS devices which will be uploaded to the IReV for real-time viewing.

INEC has insisted that the IReV is not for election result collation as that process will still take place at collation centres.

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BVAS was first deployed during the Anambra state governorship election on November 6, 2021, although it was criticised by observers including the eventual winner of the election, Charles Soludo. The system has, however, improved and was used without incident during the Osun state governorship election in 2022.

Why are some members of the National Assembly against the use of BVAS?

In July 2021, 52 senators voted against the electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The Senate ruled that INEC must seek approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly on areas that have network or not before electronic transmission of results is done.

Many Nigerians feel that BVAS will make the election more credible and reduce manipulation caused by overvoting or falsification of election results. Despite the rejection by the lawmakers, INEC has insisted on the use of BVAS for the coming elections.