By Nworisa Michael
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has inaugurated a new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Abia State and announced significant upgrades to its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) aimed at eliminating election result manipulation.
INEC Chairman, Joash Ojo Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners and the swearing-in of Dr. Chukwu Joseph as the new REC for Abia State.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Amupitan said the commission had strengthened its result management system to safeguard the integrity of results transmitted to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“We have identified that the greatest threat to our electoral process is not even the voting at the polling units but the actual collation of the results at several levels,” he said.
He explained that new safeguards have been introduced into the BVAS device to curb manipulation before results are uploaded.
“We have introduced some safeguards to the BVAS system to curb all manner of manipulation on the results that will be transmitted to IReV,” the INEC chairman stated.
Under the upgraded system, presiding officers are now required to capture and upload images of completed Form EC8A directly to the IReV portal and input party scores into the BVAS device. The system performs automatic validation checks to ensure consistency.
“The BVAS system performs internal validation checks to ensure that the total votes entered do not exceed the number of accredited voters. Over-voting is automatically flagged and cannot be finalised,” Amupitan explained.
According to him, the improved BVAS was tested during the recent FCT Area Council election as well as constituency elections in Kano and Rivers States, with a high percentage of results successfully uploaded to the portal.
The chairman also dismissed allegations of result manipulation at a polling unit in Kwali Area Council, describing the incident as a clerical error that was corrected at the collation stage.
Looking ahead to the 2027 General Election, Amupitan announced that INEC would review its regulations and issue a revised timetable in line with the newly enacted Electoral Act 2026. He also disclosed that the commission would soon embark on a voter register revalidation exercise to strengthen the integrity of the register.
“Although there is no perfect election, I must make it clear that there is no room for error or excuse in this crucial process,” he said.
The inauguration of the new Abia REC alongside the BVAS upgrade, he noted, underscores the commission’s commitment to enhancing electoral transparency and boosting public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.