The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has urged Nigerians to disregard the alleged manipulation of voters’ data on the several Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS used in the November 11th Guber election in Kogi state.
Alhaji Yakubu Murtala Ajaka, flagbearer of the Social Democratic Party SDP in the election had alleged s collision between the commission and the ruling All Progressives Congress APC to manipulate the data to reflect alleged over-voting in polling units across four local government areas in the state.
The INEC National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
He stated that INEC’s attention has been drawn to media reports that the Commission was manipulating the accredited figures of voters in the Kogi Governorship Election results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
- APC Sweeps Kogi LG Polls, Wins All 21 Chairmanship Seats and 239 Councillorship Positions
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has recorded a clean sweep… - INEC Sets September 19 for Five By-Elections Across Four States, Names Constituencies
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday, September…Read More “INEC Sets September 19 for Five By-Elections Across Four States, Names Constituencies” »
Haruna described thereports as unfounded, and said the most accurate and up-to-date Voters’ Accreditation Data is available in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, which is used for the authentication and accreditation of registered voters at various polling units on election day.
“It automatically retains the accreditation data of all voters”, he stated.
According to him, the BVAS is designed to primarily work offline without Internet connectivity, which facilitates faster and seamless authentication and accreditation experience for voters.
“However, when its application is active or in use, depending on the strength of its connection to the Internet, the BVAS automatically exports the accreditation data to the Accreditation Backend System ABS.
“This exportation of data does not happen when the device’s application is inactive or when the internet connectivity is poor. The same experience applies to a situation where more than one BVAS gadget is used at a polling unit with more than 1,250 registered voters. This could be compared to a situation when poor network services delay the delivery of an SMS sent from one individual to another through a mobile phone.
“At the close of poll, Presiding Officers are expected to press the data exportation button on the BVAS to ensure that all the accreditation data are exported to the ABS. This process, referred to as synchronization and which is ongoing, could lead to changes in the accreditation figures as more data flow in to update the existing figures. This is the basis for the caveat provided on the IReV portal, regarding the accreditation figures. The accreditation data cannot be changed on the BVAS after the close of poll.
“The public should disregard the misleading report and misinformation”, Haruna stated .
