Connectivity remains major logistical headache – INEC chair

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), said technology has significantly strengthened Nigeria’s electoral process by eliminating multiple voting and identity fraud, but warned that connectivity challenges remain a stubborn obstacle to seamless digital elections. Speaking yesterday at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions organised by the […]

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), said technology has significantly strengthened Nigeria’s electoral process by eliminating multiple voting and identity fraud, but warned that connectivity challenges remain a stubborn obstacle to seamless digital elections.

Speaking yesterday at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, the INEC Chairman, represented by National Commissioner, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, said the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) marked a critical turning point in the country’s democratic evolution.

He described BVAS as a “foolproof mechanism” for verifying the identity and eligibility of voters, noting that it had effectively ended the era of voter impersonation and multiple accreditation.

However, Prof. Amupitan admitted that even with BVAS’ strengths, the Commission continues to grapple with a major logistical headache,  poor network connectivity across thousands of polling units.

He said Nigeria’s uneven telecommunications infrastructure poses a persistent challenge to real-time uploading of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), a key component of electoral transparency.

“With 176,846 polling units scattered across swamps, mountains, riverine terrains and remote settlements, ensuring constant network connection remains one of the hardest tasks on Election Day,” he said.

The INEC chairman said the Commission will continue to engage the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and network operators to devise workable solutions.

Despite the obstacles, Prof. Amupitan delivered a clear message to political actors, saying there will be no reversal to manual accreditation or pre-technology procedures.

He dismissed any suggestion of abandoning digital devices for manual methods, describing manual accreditation as “highly vulnerable to human manipulation.”

He said, “The BVAS device has become our frontline defence against identity fraud, ensuring only eligible voters are accredited. With its biometric safeguards, voter impersonation has been effectively eliminated from our electoral system.”

Citing performance data from the recently concluded Anambra State governorship election, Prof. Amupitan said 6,879 BVAS devices deployed for the polls delivered excellent performance, with over 99 percent of polling unit results uploaded to IReV on Election Day.

“These outcomes show that BVAS and IReV are no longer experimental tools. They are now deeply entrenched pillars of Nigeria’s electoral architecture,” he said.

“The result declared at the polling unit is the same one visible to the public. Technology has safeguarded the vote,” he added.

The INEC Chairman stressed that previous administrations of voting technology suffered because they lacked statutory backing and were easily dismissed by election tribunals. This changed, he said, with the arrival of the Electoral Act 2022.

Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman,  Dayo Oketola, in a statement yesterday said Amupitan, highlighted Section 47(2) of the Act as the game-changer that transformed BVAS and other digital devices from administrative conveniences to legally protected instruments of election management.