INEC says BVAS and IReV have made election rigging more difficult, calls for intensified voter education ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), has assured Nigerians that technological innovations introduced by the commission have effectively ended the era of ballot box snatching and manual manipulation of election results ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan made the declaration on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, during a courtesy visit to the INEC headquarters. The two agencies pledged to strengthen their collaboration on voter education and civic enlightenment ahead of the next general elections.
According to the INEC chairman, technologies such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) have significantly enhanced the credibility and transparency of Nigeria’s electoral process by protecting votes and making result manipulation increasingly difficult.
He stressed that Nigerians must understand that their votes count and that advances in election technology have made old methods of electoral fraud, including ballot box snatching and manual rewriting of results, largely ineffective.
Despite these improvements, Amupitan expressed concern over persistent voter apathy and the spread of misinformation, noting that many Nigerians still do not fully understand the country’s evolving electoral process.
He stated that while recent elections in the Federal Capital Territory and Ekiti State showed improvements in logistics, biometric accreditation, and electronic result uploads, they also highlighted challenges such as low voter turnout, confusion over polling unit changes, and issues surrounding voter registration transfers.
The INEC chairman called for intensified grassroots voter education to encourage greater participation in elections, combat vote-buying and misinformation, and ensure that citizens understand the importance of exercising their democratic rights.
He further pledged INEC’s full support for a stronger partnership with the National Orientation Agency to deepen civic education and boost public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
