Joash Ojo Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says Nigeria has finally broken the cycle of voter impersonation and multiple voting following the full deployment of digital verification technology.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, the INEC chairman, represented by May Agbamuche-Mbu, national commissioner, said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has become a “foolproof mechanism” that shuts the door on identity theft at polling units.
In a statement signed by Dayo Oketola, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, stated that “the BVAS device has become our frontline defence against identity fraud, ensuring that only the rightful, eligible voter can be accredited,” he said, adding that “With the biometric safeguards now in place, voter impersonation has been effectively eliminated from our electoral system.”
Amupitan backed his claims with data from the recent Anambra Governorship Election, where 6,879 BVAS devices deployed for the poll reportedly delivered what he described as “exceptional performance,” including the upload of more than 99% of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on election day.
“These outcomes confirm that the deployment of BVAS and IReV is no longer experimental but an entrenched part of Nigeria’s electoral architecture,” he said, adding that technology has ensured that results announced at polling units now match what the public sees online.
The INEC Chairman noted that earlier election technologies lacked legal backing, leaving the Commission vulnerable in courts. But he said the Electoral Act 2022—particularly Section 47(2)—marked a turning point by giving statutory force to digital accreditation tools.
“This legislative foundation ensures that our digital devices have both operational and legal legitimacy. It has strengthened public trust and enabled the Commission to innovate with confidence,” he stated.
Despite the successes, Amupitan admitted that connectivity challenges remain a major obstacle, especially in hard-to-reach areas where Nigeria’s 176,846 polling units are scattered across swamps, mountains and remote settlements. These gaps, he said, hinder real-time result uploads and remain one of INEC’s biggest logistical concerns.
“A tool like the BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on,” he said, disclosing that the Commission is working with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecom operators while exploring alternative technologies to improve reliability.
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He dismissed any suggestion of reversing technological gains or returning to manual accreditation, which he described as “vulnerable to human interference.”
“The gains we have recorded are too significant to reverse,” the INEC Chairman said, promising further upgrades to strengthen transparency in future elections.
As the conference closed, Amupitan reiterated that the long-standing practice of “ghost voting” had been decisively stamped out.
“Our mission is simple—to ensure that every eligible voter is accurately verified, every vote is properly counted, and every result is transparently shared. Technology has helped us secure these foundations of democracy,” he said.
