Former President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that automating the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV) would enhance trust in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Speaking on Tuesday at the YIAGA Africa reflection conference on democratic elections in West Africa in Abuja, Jonathan emphasized that the controversy surrounding the malfunction of IREV during the 2023 presidential election could have been avoided if the system was fully automated, reducing human interference.
He explained, “For instance, if BVAS captures data, it should be automatically uploaded to IREV without requiring human intervention. This way, there will be no excuses about glitches. If the process is fully automated, no individual can manipulate the system for personal gain.”
Jonathan acknowledged that while the introduction of technology alone has not resolved all electoral challenges in Nigeria, it remains essential and should be improved upon rather than discarded.
BVAS and IREV are innovations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for voter accreditation and electronic transmission of results.
Before the 2023 elections, INEC pledged to use IREV to transmit results in real-time. However, it failed to do so during the presidential election, citing technical glitches.
