Atiku Questions INEC’s Use of Outdated BVAS Ahead of Osun Election

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over the alleged use of outdated technology in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.

Atiku said recent challenges recorded during mock accreditation in the state, coupled with disclosures by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had raised questions about the reliability of the devices.

Bayode disclosed that the BVAS machines, first introduced for Nigerian elections in 2021, currently operate on Android 10.

Reacting, Atiku said the operating system reached its end of life in 2023 and no longer receives regular security updates and patches. He argued that using such software for a critical electoral system could expose the process to cybersecurity and operational risks.

The ADC presidential candidate questioned why INEC had not upgraded the system despite its resources and the opportunity presented by off-cycle elections to test newer technology ahead of the 2027 general election.

Atiku also raised concerns about the security of election data transmitted from BVAS devices to the INEC Result Viewing portal, IReV, particularly where public telecommunications networks are used.

He further warned that outdated technology could affect biometric authentication and increase the possibility of system failures during accreditation.

Atiku therefore called for an independent and comprehensive audit of the BVAS software and hardware, saying stronger safeguards are necessary to protect the credibility and integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.