As preparations for the 2023 general election hit top gear, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that not less than 194,464 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines will be deployed to the 176,846 polling units in Nigeria.
The electoral body said of the 194,464 BVAS machines, 176, 846 would be deployed to all the polling units across the country, while an additional 8,809 machines deployed for backups.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, made this disclosure while speaking with members of the press.
Okoye disclosed that INEC would deploy a machine each to all the 176,846 polling units across the nation and also each registration area amounting to 8,809, would also get at least two BVAS as backup in case of malfunction, bringing the total to over 194,464 BVAS machines.
According to him, polling units with more than 750 registered voters will get an additional BVAS machine to speedy the electioneering process.
In his words, “We have 176, 846 polling units in Nigeria. All of them will have a BVAS. Some polling units may still have more than 750 registered voters. We shall deploy additional BVAS to such polling units,” he said.
He also disclosed that at the moment, Nigeria has about 8,809 registration areas, adding that each one will have at least two BVAS for purposes of quick intervention in cases of sustained malfunction of BVAS in any of the polling units in each electoral ward.
