The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it conducted a mock trial of the updated Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) across 289 polling units in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the recently concluded Area Council election.

The Deputy Director, Information and Publicity of the commission, Wilfred Ifogah, made this known on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

Ifogah was reacting to issues raised following the conduct of the FCT Area Council poll.

According to him, the commission carried out the test-run to assess the effectiveness of the new update introduced to the BVAS.

“Prior to the FCT elections, we did a mock trial for the update that was done on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, in 289 polling units all around FCT,” he said.

He explained that the update was designed to strengthen the credibility of the result management process at the polling unit level.

Providing insight into how the upgraded system works, Ifogah said presiding officers are required to input results directly into the BVAS after collation at the polling units.

“After results are calculated at polling units, the presiding officer enters this data into the BVAS,” he stated.

He added that the system now has an inbuilt validation mechanism that cross-checks uploaded results with previously recorded data.

“If the scanned image of the EC8A form, containing tabulated results, does not align with the accredited voter numbers and figures already recorded in BVAS, the system will not process the submission until accuracy is verified,” Ifogah explained.

According to the INEC official, the update goes beyond the previous function of merely capturing and transmitting images of result sheets.

“This indicates an updated BVAS feature enabling it to validate scanned information against pre-recorded data, beyond merely capturing and transmitting photos,” he said.

The commission maintained that the improvement is part of efforts to enhance transparency and ensure that results uploaded from polling units reflect the actual figures recorded during accreditation and voting.