The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to deploy 5,130 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices for the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election.
The Commission will also double its backup BVAS devices from 664 to 1,328 as part of measures to strengthen accreditation and minimise disruptions during the poll.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this during an interactive session with media executives in Osogbo, following a mock accreditation exercise conducted in selected polling units across Osogbo, Oriade and other local government areas.
Amupitan said the decision to increase the number of BVAS devices was influenced by concerns raised by political parties and lessons from the mock exercise, which he described as a quality assurance test of the Commission’s technology under real election conditions.
According to him, the mock accreditation demonstrated the reliability of the BVAS, with voter verification taking between 30 seconds and two minutes through fingerprint or facial recognition.
He said additional devices would be deployed to cover split polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo Local Government Areas.
The INEC Chairman added that technical support engineers had been assigned to every Registration Area and Ward to ensure prompt replacement of faulty equipment and uninterrupted accreditation.
A total of 2,339,233 registered voters are expected to participate in the election across 3,763 polling units, 320 wards and 30 local government areas.
Fourteen political parties are scheduled to contest the election, while INEC is finalising the training of ad hoc personnel. The Commission is also expected to deploy about 32,000 National Youth Service Corps members recruited through its INECPRES portal.
On election security, Amupitan said INEC was working with security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security to protect voters, election officials and sensitive materials.
He confirmed recent attacks on INEC offices in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area, and Ife Central, during which some Permanent Voter Cards were reportedly stolen.
The Chairman, however, assured affected voters that the stolen PVCs could not be used to vote because accreditation through BVAS requires live biometric verification.
He said the Commission had directed its ICT Department to reprint the affected PVCs, while voters would also have access to downloadable versions where necessary.
Amupitan further reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to conducting an inclusive election, saying assistive materials would be provided for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable voters.
These include Braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters, magnifying glasses for persons with albinism and low vision, EC40H poster manifests for hearing-impaired voters, and priority queues for persons with disabilities, pregnant women, nursing mothers and the elderly.
The INEC Chairman also urged journalists and media organisations to verify information before publication and help curb misinformation and disinformation during the election period.
He cautioned against presenting isolated technical challenges as widespread failures, warning that inaccurate reports could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.