Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised fresh concerns over BVAS security risks ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, questioned the continued use of what he described as an outdated operating system on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS. His Media Office disclosed the position in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
The concerns followed reported failures during the Osun State mock accreditation exercise held on August 1, 2026. They also followed comments by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode. Bayode reportedly said during an Arise TV programme on Monday that BVAS devices currently operate on Android version 10.
Atiku argued that Android 10 reached end-of-life status in 2023 and no longer receives regular security updates. He questioned why INEC had not upgraded the software ahead of the 2027 elections. The former Vice President also asked why forthcoming off-cycle elections were not being used to test an upgraded BVAS system.
According to him, the continued use of legacy software raises serious questions about the preparedness and resilience of Nigeria’s electoral technology. He described INEC’s handling of the issue as suspicious and warned that weaknesses in the system could affect confidence in future elections.
Atiku said outdated operating systems could potentially expose BVAS devices to cyberattacks. He argued that unauthorised access could create opportunities to interfere with voter accreditation information or polling-unit result data before transmission. He also expressed concerns about the transmission of polling-unit results through public telecommunications networks to INEC’s Result Viewing, IReV, portal.
According to him, outdated security and cryptographic components could increase exposure to attempts to intercept, block or manipulate election-related data. These concerns, he said, make BVAS security risks an issue that should be addressed before the 2027 polls.
Atiku further raised questions about the biometric components of BVAS. The devices use fingerprint and facial recognition technologies to verify voters during accreditation. He argued that outdated software supporting biometric functions could affect accuracy and reduce the system’s resilience against attempts to bypass verification procedures.
He also warned that defects associated with legacy software could result in application crashes. Such failures, he said, could become particularly problematic during periods of heavy usage and potentially cause delays at polling units.
The ADC presidential candidate supported calls from cybersecurity experts for an independent and comprehensive audit of BVAS hardware and software. He said the assessment should establish whether the technology remains sufficiently secure and reliable for the 2027 electoral cycle.
According to him, critical national infrastructure should not operate on software that has reached end-of-life status. He warned that relying on unsupported operating systems could expand the potential attack surface and expose the electoral process to avoidable vulnerabilities.
The former Vice President said INEC had sufficient financial resources to upgrade the system and urged the commission to address the concerns before the next general election. The statement, signed by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja, was dated August 11, 2026.
