The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has disclosed the major obstacle to real-time election result uploads.
Chairman of the Commission, Prof Joash Amupitan, SAN, while speaking at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions in Abuja, said despite major gains achieved through the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), poor telecommunications connectivity remains the commission’s biggest obstacle to real-time result uploads.
Prof Amupitan, represented by National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu, acknowledged that the uneven quality of network coverage across Nigeria continues to hinder seamless transmission of polling-unit results to the INEC Result Viewing portal.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, on Tuesday, stated that while voter impersonation and multiple voting have been effectively curtailed, the Commission is still struggling with connectivity gaps in several parts of the country.
“With 176,846 polling units tucked into swamps, perched on mountains, and hidden in far-flung communities, achieving real-time upload of Polling Unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal remains one of the toughest battles for transparency on Election Day.
“A tool like the BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on,” Amupitan said.
He said INEC would continue to engage the Nigerian Communications Commission and network providers to find ways of addressing the challenge, while actively exploring alternative technologies to bridge the gaps.
The INEC boss noted that the introduction of BVAS has brought an end to the longstanding problem of identity theft in Nigeria’s elections.
Addressing an audience of tech innovators, policymakers, and civil society representatives, he declared that multiple voting and identity fraud are over.
He described BVAS as a turning point in Nigeria’s democratic journey, calling it a foolproof mechanism for voter verification.
“The BVAS device has become our frontline defence against identity fraud, ensuring that only the rightful, eligible voter can be accredited at the polling unit. With the biometric safeguards now in place, voter impersonation has been effectively eliminated from our electoral system,” he said.
