INEC raises fresh alarm, politicians attempting to clone BVAS machines

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has raised fresh alarm that certain politicians are attempting to clone and gain access to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) hardware of the commission for the 2023 general elections.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, speaking on Channels Television, had complained of possible incidence of over-voting and compromise of BVAS.

Okoye had declared: “Some of these fears are not valid. People are just throwing in issues into the fray to make sure that we disclose to them the complete and entire functionality of the BVAS.

“There are some politicians who want us to open the brain of the BVAS so they can see inside the BVAS, to see how it functions and for them to also see whether there’s a possibility for them to clone it or manipulate it and the commission will not do that.

“Democracy can only be protected by a vigilant people and the law has given the political parties the power and the right to deploy their polling agents to all the polling units in Nigeria and to all the collation centres.”

Okoye maintained: “Our BVAS is a very robust gadget – a very robust instrument, and we have faith in it. We believe it is the ultimate arbiter in terms of those who want to manipulate the process.

“I think that Nigerians should have faith in the BVAS. It is robust and will be a game-changer in the 2023 general elections.”