The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Saturday expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the mock accreditation exercise conducted ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election, saying it confirmed the commission’s readiness for the poll.
The exercise, held in 36 polling units across 12 local government areas of the state, was, however, met with concerns from the Accord Party, which urged the electoral body to address alleged technical glitches observed during the simulation.
Speaking to journalists after inspecting the exercise, Amupitan said the inspection team visited selected polling units across the three senatorial districts of Osun State to assess the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under real election conditions.
He said the delegation comprised National Commissioners, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, directors, technical personnel and other senior officials, who conducted field inspections rather than relying on reports from Abuja.
According to him, the mock accreditation served as a quality assurance exercise aimed at testing the resilience of the commission’s technological infrastructure ahead of election day.
Amupitan disclosed that the BVAS successfully accredited voters within an average of between 30 seconds and two minutes using either fingerprint or facial recognition, adding that the dual-authentication system significantly reduced cases of failed verification.
To strengthen election-day operations, he said INEC had increased the number of BVAS machines to be deployed for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 following concerns raised by some political parties over the adequacy of the devices.
He explained that the additional machines would serve split polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo local government areas, while the number of backup BVAS devices had also been increased from 664 to 1,328 to ensure immediate replacement in the event of any malfunction.
“What we saw today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational,” Amupitan stated.
The INEC chairman also reaffirmed the commission’s readiness for the election, noting that 2,339,233 registered voters would vote across 3,763 polling units in 320 wards spread across the state’s 30 local government areas.
Meanwhile, the Accord Party expressed apprehension over the functionality of some BVAS machines used during the mock accreditation exercise, calling on INEC to urgently review the configuration of the devices.
In a statement signed by its Osun State Chairman, Pastor Victor Akande, the party urged the commission to carry out a comprehensive technical audit involving political stakeholders to correct what it described as fundamental anomalies noticed during the exercise.
The party said with less than two weeks to the governorship election, INEC must demonstrate its readiness by ensuring reliable, fast and transparent deployment of technology during the poll.
Accord maintained that although it retained confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct a credible election as it did in 2022, the commission should not allow rumours of compromised BVAS machines to gain traction.
It also proposed the constitution of a technical committee comprising representatives of all contesting political parties to work with INEC in resolving identified challenges and boosting stakeholders’ confidence ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
