Alleged Accreditation Data Manipulation: INEC Refutes Reports

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has refuted allegations that it manipulated the uploaded accredited figures of voters in Saturday's Kogi Governorship Election results on the INEC Result Viewing, IReV, portal.  

The commission made the rebuttal in a statement posted on its X handle on Tuesday. 

According to the statement signed by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, a National Commissioner who doubles as a member of the Commission's Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC insisted that it posted the most authentic, most accurate and up-to-date Voters’ Accreditation Data collated from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, used for the authentication and accreditation of registered voters at the various polling units on the election day. 

"For the avoidance of doubt, 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," the statement read in part. 

INEC, which insists that the allegations are unfounded and false, pointed out that the BVAS is designed to ensure it works offline, a reason why it makes way for a seamless authentication and accreditation.

It added that the technology also makes it possible to automatically transmit the result when data connectivity is restored. 

"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 commission urged the general public to disregard the information because it is calculated to mislead.