Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, has raised serious concerns over the continued use of an outdated operating system on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and called for an independent, comprehensive audit of the devices to safeguard the integrity of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja on Tuesday, Atiku referenced failures recorded during the mock accreditation exercise in Osun State on August 1, 2026, as well as a recent disclosure by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Director of ICT, Dr. Lawrence Bayode. During an interview on Arise TV, Bayode stated that BVAS devices, first deployed in 2021, continue to run on Android version 10.
Atiku noted that Android 10 reached its end-of-life status in 2023 and no longer receives security updates or patches. He warned that operating critical electoral technology on an obsolete system creates severe cyber and operational risks, including a broadened attack surface that could allow unauthorized access, potential alteration of voter logs or result files, and system crashes during peak voting periods that lead to delayed accreditations and technical glitches.
“Why has INEC, despite its substantial budget, failed to upgrade the BVAS software long before the 2027 general elections or even test a newer operating system during recent off-season elections, including the Osun State governorship poll?” Atiku asked. He described the commission’s handling of the matter as suspicious and cautioned that it could amount to a deliberate attempt to undermine the integrity of the country’s elections.
Citing cybersecurity experts, the former Vice President emphasized that running national electoral infrastructure on an end-of-life operating system is unacceptable. He therefore called for an independent and comprehensive code and hardware audit of all BVAS devices as a vital step to protect election integrity.
Atiku urged INEC to urgently address the identified vulnerabilities, stressing that the credibility of the 2027 elections will depend not only on the conduct of political parties and electoral officials but also on the reliability, security, and transparency of the technology used for voter accreditation and result management.
The ADC presidential candidate reaffirmed his commitment to defending democratic processes and ensuring that Nigerians can have full confidence in the electoral system.