2027: Osun INEC confirms 5,763 functional BVAS devices

An INEC officer with the BVAS. Credit: INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State has said the total number of functional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices available for the conduct of the 2027 general election in the state is 5,763.

This was disclosed by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, in a statement obtained by PUNCH in Osogbo on Tuesday.

Commenting further on the commission’s preparations for the 2027 polls, the REC said that on election day, the BVAS would be deployed across all 3,763 polling units and 38 split polling units in the state for voter accreditation, to ensure that only registered voters with valid Permanent Voter Cards vote.

She added that 1,328 more BVAS devices were available as back-ups.

Babalola further explained that, in addition to voter accreditation, the BVAS would be used to upload polling unit results directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal to enhance transparency and give the public access to polling unit results.

“In Osun State, the total number of functional BVAS available for the conduct of election is 5,763. BVAS will be deployed across all 3,763 polling units and 38 split PUs in the state for voter accreditation to ensure that only registered voters with valid PVCs vote on election day.

“An additional 1,328 BVAS are available as back-ups. In addition to voter accreditation, the BVAS will be used to upload polling unit results directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) for enhanced transparency and for the public to have access to PU election results.

“BVAS devices will be configured before the election. Registration Area Technical Support Staff (RATECHs) will be deployed to all RAs to provide technical assistance,” the REC said.

On the collection of PVCs, Babalola said that before the August 15, 2026 Osun governorship poll, collected PVCs stood at 1,903,390, representing 81.5 per cent, while 427,216 remained uncollected.

“Upon the resumption of PVC collection after the governorship election at the Registration Area and LGA levels, the statistics of PVC collection from October 9, 2026 to November 3 are as follows: Old PVC – 287, New PVC – 5,082, Transfer – 1,840, Replacement – 338, Total – 7,547.

“This brings the total percentage of PVC collection to 81.74 per cent, leaving the balance of uncollected PVCs at 18.26 per cent. However, PVC collection is still ongoing at Local Government Areas,” she said.

Regarding security during the poll, the REC said the commission had begun verification across all 30 local government areas in the state to identify those with security threats.

She stated, “Ground-truthing exercise is ongoing across the 30 LGAs in order to capture the coordinates of areas with security threats.

“The Commission has also deployed INEC-SANS (INEC Security and Alert Notification System), trained Electoral Officers, ICCES members and other staff of the Commission in the state on Election Risk Management (ERM), and identified flashpoints and difficult terrains across the 30 LGAs,” among other security-related activities the commission has embarked on ahead of the general elections.

She called for the support of all stakeholders for the success of the election, assuring that INEC would leave no stone unturned to ensure a successful poll.