Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the Independent National Electoral Commission's continued use of Android 10 for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). He warned the operating system, which reached end-of-life in 2023, no longer receives security updates and could expose the electoral process to cyber threats. The alert follows a reported malfunction during Osun State's mock voter accreditation on August 1, 2026, and comments by INEC's Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode, who confirmed BVAS still runs on Android 10.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), questioned why INEC had not upgraded the system despite its substantial budget and upcoming off-cycle elections offering testing opportunities. In a statement from his Media Office in Abuja, he described the situation as suspicious and a risk to electoral integrity. Paul Ibe shared the disclosure on Facebook on Tuesday, citing Atiku's statement.
Atiku's focus on the BVAS operating system highlights a technical detail with major implications for election security. If the system runs on unsupported software, vulnerabilities could go unpatched. This raises the question of why upgrades have not been implemented ahead of 2027. The answer may lie in INEC's capacity or priorities.
Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →
