INEC Increases BVAS Devices To 5,130 For Osun Governorship Election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is fully prepared for the August 15 Osun State governorship election after completing a five-day assessment of its operational readiness across the State.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the declaration on Saturday after inspecting the Commission’s mock accreditation exercise in Obokun, Egbedore and Osogbo Local Government Areas before meeting media executives in Osogbo.

Amupitan said the field exercise showed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed satisfactorily, with voter verification taking between 30 seconds and two minutes using fingerprint or facial recognition.

“The mock accreditation exercise is our quality assurance protocol to test the resilience of the technology under real election conditions,” he said.

To address concerns raised by political parties, the INEC chairman said the Commission had increased the number of BVAS devices for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 to cover newly created split polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo.

Backup devices have also been increased from 664 to 1,328 to ensure prompt replacement in the event of technical failures.

Amupitan said INEC had continued to engage political parties, civil society organisations and community leaders ahead of the poll, describing the consultations as part of efforts to ensure a peaceful and credible election.

On security, he said the Commission had activated its Electoral Risk Management framework to identify and monitor potential flashpoints.

He listed Atakumosa East and West, Boripe, Ede North and South, Ife Central, Ifedayo, Ila, Osogbo, Ifelodun and Oriade as areas that would receive enhanced security deployment through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.

The chairman also said INEC had concluded arrangements with transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), to support election logistics.

According to him, vehicles linked to political actors, violence or pending criminal cases have been excluded from the exercise to ensure neutrality and facilitate the simultaneous opening of all 3,763 polling units by 8:30 a.m. on election day.

Amupitan warned that misinformation and disinformation posed the biggest threat to the electoral process, urging journalists to verify information before publication and avoid reporting unverified election results.

“INEC remains an independent and neutral umpire. Our only interest is to deliver a credible election that reflects the true will of the people of Osun State,” he said.