When the idea of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) into the electoral process was first mooted by the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, it created a wave of mixed feelings among Nigerians. The technology, however, became the game-changer in the 2023 presidential and national assembly elections; BENJAMIN SAMSON notes.
BVAS
The Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machine is a device used for the accreditation of voters through biometric capture, uploading of polling results and other functions.
Explaining how the device operates, an IT specialist, Maxwell Chidubem, told our reporter that: “The biometric technology was designed to verify permanent voter cards (PVCs) and enable human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters.
“The device can also capture images of the polling unit result sheet (Form EC8A) and upload the image of the sheet on the Independent National Electoral Commission election result viewing platform (IReV). BVAS plays an important role in verifying the genuineness of voters’ cards and authenticating voters during accreditation.
“The design of the electronic device made it impossible for anyone to tamper with results uploaded to IReV via BVAS.
“With the nature of BVAS, the uploaded polling units (PUs) results cannot be manipulated. The machine was not designed to edit the photographic results uploaded and sent to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and once sent cannot be recalled.”
