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Full Project – Implementation of bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) technology in Nigeria voting system

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Bimodal Voters Authentication System (BVAS) is a device that combines fingerprint and facial recognition for the verification of voters and it replaces the Smart Card Readers used in previous elections in Nigeria, introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). According to Luther (2021), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed satisfaction about the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). The device, which enables human recognition through biometric verification mechanism, using fingerprint and facial recognition, was piloted in the Isoko South 1 State Constituency by-election in Delta State, ahead of its deployment for the Anambra election slated for November 6.

According to Ademuwagun (2021), which stated that first, in one sentence, BVAS is a technology solution based on Artificial Intelligence and it is only as good as implementing both the training simulation that theaAlgorithms receive and the real life implementation. The use of this technology as a solution on the scale required for credible election administration in Nigeria is challenging given its flawed reputation and at a time when many of its pioneers are pulling back from it. In the Anambra election, for instance, it was clear that voters who recently registered in INEC’s Continuing Voter Registration (CVR) were the most easily accredited because their features were current. However, older voters or voters whose PVCs were a few years old generally reported serious problems with accreditation, mostly because their features had changed in the intervening years between data capture and accreditation. Thousands of them may have been disenfranchised as a result. This raises legitimate questions about both the provenance of the algorithms and their training. INEC needs to disclose more information about these parameters.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The rising tension of election malpractice and violence prompted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to device a technology that has a biometrically enable authentication process for voters. The device was called the Smart card Reader which was released on Monday, 09^th March 2015. The launching of this device was followed by its pilot survey implementation and demonstration. The demostration of the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) was conducted in 12 states on Saturday, March 07^th 2015. The states were Rivers and Delta (South-South), Kano and Kebbi (North-West), Anambra and Ebonyi (South East), Ekiti and Lagos (South West), Bauchi and Taraba (North East) as well as Niger and Nasarawa (North Central). The result of the survey indicated that INEC was satisfied that the use of SCRs in the 2015 general elections will add tremendous transparency and credibility to the accreditation process on Election Day. The Commission hereby reassures the public that it will do everything necessary to ensure that the processes of the elections are seamless, free, fair, credible and peaceful (Santos andAdegoke, 2019).

Despite the Independent Nations Electoral Commission (INEC) repeatedly assuring the smart card reader will not pose a challenge at the elections this year, reports from parts of the country indicated the malfunctioning of the device caused delays and frustration for voters. The 2019 general election was one of the worst case scenario where the smart card reader malfunction in so many pooling units and this was claimed to affect the outcome of the result.

Because of the problems and challenges posed by the smart card reader, INEC introduced the Bimodal Voters Authentication System in 2021 in readiness for the 2023 general election. INEC introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for efficient human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters. The result of the pilot in the 84 polling units was very encouraging indeed. History made was made on Saturday, November 6, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deployed the Biometric Voter Accreditation System for the Anambra governorship election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to among other things organize elections into various political offices in the country.

Nwaora (2016) has sighted the newly introduced BVAS device is a replacement to the Smart Card Reader (SCR) used in previous elections since 2015. With this development, the use of the incident form is abolished. No voter without a genuine PVC will vote. No voter who has not been successfully accredited electronically using the BVAS will vote (Luther, 2021).

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The process of election, commonly referred to as electoral process is often full of malpractices in the sense that most voters are being bribed and their cards are collected from them after receiving certain amount of money and thereafter those PVCs are allocated to other impersonators which in turn uses it to vote from corrupt electoral officer. Despite the attempt made by the Independent National Electoral Commission by introducing the Smart Card Reader which uses fingerprint authentication, but due to malfunctioning challenges, the devices are still currently being misused as people seems to bypass the verification stage and proceeds to voting. Often times the machines fail and out of pressure, the election officers will allow those that the machines failed to work for to go ahead and cast their vote, thereby allowing impersonation.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to implement a copy of the INEC Bimodal Voters Accreditation in Nigeria voting system.

The objectives of this study are as follows;

To provide an understanding of the BVAS technology
To provide an avenue for conducting a free and fair election
To provide a system for utilizing biometrics for verifying identity of individuals

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

An inaccurate voter register can cause problems in the electoral process by raising doubts about the election’s inclusiveness and outcome and by opening up avenues for fraud and manipulation. The findings of the study will enhance the effusive planning and operation of future election that intends to utilize the BVAS technology since the major loopholes and positive impacts will be adequately discussed in the context of this study

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The major scope of this study is centered on the implementation of the BVAS.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is limited by time and finances which affected the coverage in gathering relevant data for the design of this study. Due to the above factors, we were unable to thoroughly investigate how to completely evaluate the system and fully implement the bimodal verification. Another limitation of the study is that there was no available BVAS machine to help the study fully identify and critically analyze the device where the BVAS system is installed. Another challenge that limited the reach of this study is the lack of funds in procuring the peripherals like scanners, finger print modules, etc for the system design.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

BVAS: This is a device that enables human recognition through biometric verification mechanism, using fingerprint and facial recognition
ALGORITHM: an algorithm is a finite sequence of well-defined instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation.
BIOMETRICS: Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics.
BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION: Biometric authentication is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control.

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