BVAS data can’t be breached, harvesting VINs is futile exercise
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Politicians buying Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and harvesting Voter Identification Numbers (VINs) to rig the 2023 ballot are wasting their resources because the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) cannot be breached.
BVAS houses the database of the electoral register, not the PVC or the VIN, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified yet again, both to deter PVC buyers and assure voters of the importance of holding on to their PVCs.
INEC National Commissioner and Information and Voter Education Committee Chairman Festus Okoye said buying up PVCs would only oppress voters and prevent them from exercising their rights on Election Day.
He explained on Arise TV the data of all registered voters is embedded on BVAS and not on their PVCs.
“Those who are harvesting VINs of registered voters are doing that in futility.
“Why are they harvesting and buying off VINs when those VINs were published in our local government areas and in our registration areas when we displayed the voters registers for claims and objections. Those VINs are there,” he stressed.
“We have made it very clear that this Commission will deploy BVAS for voters’ identification and authentication and the data of every registered voter in Nigeria per polling unit is domiciled in BVAS and not in the PVCs.”
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Functions of BVAS, PVC, VIN
“The only thing the Presiding Officer will do on Election Day is to look at the last six digits of your PVC and use them to bring out your VIN for the purpose of calling up your data from the BVAS,” Okoye said, per The PUNCH.
“Those buying PVCs and harvesting VINs can only engage in voter oppression. They can only prevent the voter from going to the polling unit on Election Day but in terms of carrying the PVC of someone else to give another person for voting, I can assure you that it is next to impossible.
“The Commission will engage 1.4 million ad hoc staff made up of the National Youth Service Corps [NYSC] members and students in tertiary institutions in their final year.
“You will know that it is next to impossible for INEC to have over 1.4 million staff members on its pay roll.
“The strength staff of the Commission is around 16,000 and so when we devolve the collection to the various registration areas, we are going to engage the services of corps members to assist the Commission in terms of giving out these PVCs.”