INEC Gets 57,000 New BVAS Machines Ahead of 2027 Election

(INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan. Photo by The Guardian Nigeria )

The Independent National Electoral Commission has acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices to strengthen its hardware and software ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan said this on Monday in Abuja at a workshop organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors with the commission.

The theme was Strengthening Democracy Through Partnership Among Editors, Civil Society and Electoral Institutions.

He said the new devices are part of upgrades meant to stop accreditation bypass and manual manipulation.

Some of the devices have already arrived, and the existing ones have gone through software hardening, battery improvement and biometric calibration.

He described technology as INEC's strongest tool for making sure every valid vote counts.

Amupitan said the improved eEC8A system digitises polling unit result sheets, secures them with cryptographic authentication and uploads them straight to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

Results must be verified at the polling unit, and if they cannot be reconciled, they will not go to IReV.

He said whatever lands on the portal will have been checked by the presiding officer and party agents.

INEC is also working with international technology partners to add AI tools that watch database traffic and protect its public portals from cyber attacks and unauthorised changes.

To fix the problem of late arrival of materials, INEC has started early procurement and delivery of non-sensitive materials to states.

It has also bought new pick-up vehicles and begun sharing them with states and local government areas to help with rough terrain.

On staff welfare, Amupitan said INEC has introduced a new salary structure to take it out of the core civil service structure, because he found that its staff were the lowest paid in Nigeria.

He said state offices' operational overheads have also been raised by 150 per cent from July 1, 2026, and the commission is working on the cash backing for the staff welfare package, effective January 1, 2026.

He stressed zero tolerance for partisanship, negligence and compromised ethics.

He also warned about fake news, saying deepfakes, manipulated videos and audio, coordinated false campaigns and early declaration of unverified results can stir unrest, threaten election officials and cast doubt on valid elections.

He urged editors to fact-check properly, avoid sensational clickbait and confirm field rumours with INEC's official channels before publishing.