Nigeria’s preparations for the 2027 general election face renewed questions over the reliability, maintenance and technological readiness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Electoral experts warn that equipment failures and procedural weaknesses could undermine the credibility of the voting process at a time when technology remains central to voter accreditation and the electronic capture and transmission of polling-unit results.
Concerns centre on the age of some devices, their operational efficiency, software compatibility and whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can show that its equipment will withstand the demands of a nationwide election.
Nigeria’s electoral law is explicit about certain kinds of technology failure. Section 47(2) of the Electoral Act requires voters to be accredited through BVAS or another technological device prescribed by INEC.
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Section 47(3) sets out a recovery path when that device fails, while Section 60(5) preserves the signed paper result sheet when communications make electronic transmission impossible. Structured observation from recent polls illustrates why these provisions matter.
Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, which deployed observers across all 16 local government areas of Ekiti State during the recent governorship election, with partner networks fielding more than 200 accredited observers, reported that where BVAS malfunctioned, facial authentication especially affected elderly voters.
Yiaga Africa, using a statistical sample of 250 polling units, found that in 10 percent of sampled units some voters were denied accreditation because BVAS failed to verify Permanent Voter Cards or authenticate fingerprints or facial biometrics.
In the recent Osun state governorship election, observation groups recorded mixed but largely functional BVAS performance. The Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) reported an 84.7 percent success rate for voter accreditation attempts statewide, while Yiaga Africa found that BVAS functioned without issues in 80 percent of its sampled polling units.
Conversely, KDI logged a 15.3 percent failure rate and Yiaga Africa observed technical malfunctions in 20 percent of units; in almost all such cases the devices were eventually repaired or replaced by technical support teams.
Yiaga Africa also raised concerns about the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), reporting that uploads stalled between 8:48 pm and 10:00 pm, with 3,292 polling-unit results affected and 471 still outstanding before transmission resumed at about 11:50 pm. “This prolonged interruption requires a clear explanation from INEC. Sustaining public confidence in IReV requires not only timely and complete uploads but also proactive disclosure whenever delays occur,” the group stated.
Oluwafemi John, head of research and P
programmes at Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), called for greater scrutiny of BVAS performance, arguing that its effectiveness cannot be taken for granted, while noting that some devices were procured around 2019 and 2020, raising questions about their remaining lifespan and the extent of maintenance and upgrades.
Age alone does not prove unreliability, John told BusinessDay, even as he emphasised that condition, maintenance history, software support, battery performance and results under operational testing matter more.
INEC must therefore demonstrate that the devices deployed in 2027 can perform consistently when voters are accredited, he averted.
BVAS verifies voters through fingerprints or facial recognition and supports the electronic capture and transmission of result sheets, linking its performance to both verification and transparency. A failure during accreditation can delay voting, force contingency procedures and increase pressure on officials. Problems across multiple units can complicate administration and erode public confidence.
John warned that even a modest failure rate could prove consequential across Nigeria’s large polling infrastructure, citing estimates of 15 percent to 20 percent reported by some organisations, even as he claimed that these figures depend on sample size, devices tested and the nature of the failures.
Without a verified national rate, it is premature to predict the scale of problems in 2027, he asserted.
The concerns nevertheless underline the need for comprehensive testing, preventive maintenance and transparent reporting. Readiness assessments must show not only how many devices exist but how many function, how quickly faulty ones can be replaced and whether backups can keep accreditation on track.
John also referred to the reported procurement of about 57,000 additional devices and questioned whether the total inventory would meet the needs of the country’s polling units.
“New purchases can ease shortages or replace defective machines, yet they do not automatically solve issues of maintenance, configuration, software compatibility or election-day support. The decisive measure is the number of devices that can be deployed reliably, not the number bought.
“Personnel must also be trained to operate the equipment, troubleshoot problems and follow approved procedures when electronic accreditation fails, especially in an election with many simultaneous polling units under tight time constraints,” He advised.
Software risks formed another part of the discussion, as John cited Android 10 on some devices and asked whether its security support and compatibility would prove adequate.
“Though, an operating-system version alone does not establish vulnerability; configuration, security patches, application dependencies, network exposure and additional safeguards must be examined,” John further stated.
He therefore called on INEC to clarify which software versions are in use, whether security assessments have been conducted and how vulnerabilities are addressed, while also confirming compatibility with accreditation and result-management applications.
Hardware deterioration, battery failures, damaged sensors and application crashes can impair performance even without known security flaws, so a full readiness programme must assess the entire system, he advised.
Beyond the machines themselves, John highlighted administrative weaknesses such as arithmetic errors, discrepancies in records and difficulties reconciling electronic data with physical result sheets.
He agreed to the fact that technology cannot eliminate these problems if training and procedures remain weak, adding that, “BVAS can support verification but cannot by itself resolve every dispute over collation or reconciliation; the electronic availability of result sheets does not automatically guarantee that the public can follow results through later stages. Public confidence rests on the consistent and transparent operation of equipment, personnel, procedures and reporting systems together.”
John therefore urged INEC to publish the results of its BVAS stress tests so that stakeholders can gauge the scale of any technical problems, the corrective steps taken and the commission’s capacity to respond to failures.
Credible assessments should cover the number of devices tested, methodology, types of failures, remedial results and replacement arrangements, together with periodic updates on maintenance and training, he advised.
Meanwhile, Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, has affirmed that the commission was hardening BVAS devices for rapid verification, extended battery life and seamless offline-to-online synchronisation, and confirmed the procurement of 57,000 new units.
Amupitan added that technological infrastructure, including accreditation devices and electronic result systems, was under review to improve efficiency, transparency and accountability, and pointed to the eEC8A platform and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) as part of strengthened result management.
Earlier, Amupitan stated that work was under way on BVAS and IReV for optimal performance, that it was not possible for BVAS to fail everywhere, and that extensive software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration had been carried out to prevent accreditation bypass and eliminate manual manipulation.
He noted that a technical problem in particular units would not halt the election elsewhere and that, under the Electoral Act, unresolved BVAS failure in a unit leads to postponement of that unit’s election to the following day.
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The commission scheduled a six-day nationwide stress-testing exercise of configured devices for 23–28 October 2026, followed by a mock accreditation exercise in November.
Amupitan has also cautioned that technology alone is insufficient: a sophisticated device cannot by itself prevent human compromise, and an independent electoral commission cannot by itself command public trust.
With the 2027 election approaching, the central question remains whether INEC can show that the technology will work reliably nationwide and that failures can be managed without compromising the integrity of the process. The answer will rest on the evidence from testing, the effectiveness of corrective measures and the transparency with which the commission communicates its preparedness.
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Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.
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