INEC denies allegation of data manipulation in Kogi State election results

In response to recent media reports suggesting tampering with voter accreditation figures in the Kogi Governorship Election results on the INEC, Result Viewing,IReV, portal, the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, has refuted these claims.

According to INEC, the most accurate and up-to-date Voters’ Accreditation Data is maintained in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS. This system is employed for the authentication and accreditation of registered voters at polling units during elections and automatically records accreditation data for all voters.

The BVAS is designed to function primarily offline, ensuring a swift and seamless authentication and accreditation experience for voters. However, when active and connected to the Internet, it exports accreditation data to the Accreditation Backend System (ABS). This process, akin to data synchronization, occurs at the close of polls and can lead to changes in accreditation figures as new data updates existing records.

INEC emphasizes that the accreditation data cannot be altered on the BVAS after the close of polls, assuring the public of the integrity of the electoral process. Presiding Officers are responsible for pressing the data exportation button on the BVAS at the conclusion of the voting process to synchronize and update accreditation figures.

This was contained in a statement by National Commissioner, and Member of the Information and Voter Education Committee Mohammed Kudu Haruna, who emphasized the commitment of INEC to transparency and the accurate representation of electoral data.

The statement read in full “The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) attention has been drawn to some media reports alleging that the Commission was tampering with the accredited figures of voters in the Kogi Governorship Election results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. However, these reports are unfounded.

“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 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 public should disregard the misleading report and misinformation.”