A 55-year-old voter in Osun State, Sharafa Lasisi, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission to resolve a problem with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System after repeated attempts to verify his identity through facial recognition failed.
Lasisi made the appeal on Saturday while attempting to vote at Polling Unit 006, Ward 04, in the Isale/Oke-Afo area of Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government Area, during the ongoing Osun State governorship election.
According to the voter, he repeatedly presented himself for facial verification but the BVAS machine failed to recognise his face. He said election officials initially attributed the difficulty to network problems and advised him to return later.
Lasisi said he followed the instruction and came back to the polling unit, hoping the problem would have been resolved. However, he encountered the same difficulty when he returned to complete the accreditation process.
“My name is Sharafa Lasisi. I am from Alamisi Unit 6. I am 55 years old. I have been to where they are supposed to verify my face but they said the network isn’t letting the verification go through,” he said.
The situation left the voter concerned that he could be prevented from exercising his constitutional right to vote despite having turned up at his polling unit.
The incident highlights some of the technical challenges being experienced at certain polling units during Saturday’s election. While the electoral exercise has generally witnessed significant voter participation, reports from other locations have also pointed to difficulties involving BVAS devices.
At the Ojude Ala I polling unit in Ila Local Government Area, for instance, voters experienced delays after the BVAS machine reportedly malfunctioned repeatedly. An electoral official said the machine had broken down three times, slowing the accreditation and voting process.
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