The Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), through its Election Day Data Room, has reported an 84.7 per cent success rate in voter accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the ongoing Osun State governorship election.
The organisation said this in its preliminary assessment of the election, based on reports received from its accredited observers deployed across the state to monitor the voting process.
Briefing journalists, a lead member of KDI, Professor Abiola Akinyode-Afolabi, said the available data indicated that voting commenced early in most of the polling units covered by its observers.
She said; “79.3 per cent of observations recorded the commencement of polling before 8:45 a.m., while a further 19.8 per cent commenced between 8:45 a.m. and 9:59 a.m., indicating that most of the monitored polling units had opened for voting before 10 a.m.”
Akinyode-Afolabi also said the timely arrival of election officials was recorded in a significant proportion of the polling units monitored, with 56.1 per cent reporting that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials arrived early or on time.
The assessment also showed that election materials were largely available and intact at the polling units. According to KDI, “98.9 per cent of reports indicated that the materials were in good condition at the time of observation”.
Kimpact said its observers also closely monitored the performance of BVAS, including voter authentication, accreditation processing time, technical functionality and the overall operation of the devices.
It reported that 84.7 per cent of voter accreditation attempts captured by its monitoring system were successful, while 15.3 per cent were unsuccessful.
Providing further insight into the BVAS performance, another KDI member, Professor Ernest Ereke, said a significant number of observed voters were accredited within one to two minutes, indicating that the system was quicker in processing voters at the polling units monitored.
To support its assessment, KDI deployed 370 trained and accredited observers across the 30 Local Government Areas, 332 wards and 1,660 polling units in Osun State.
The deployment included 332 stationary observers assigned to specific polling units, 30 roving observers covering clusters of polling units within designated local government areas, and eight faculty members responsible for senior-level oversight and independent verification of field reports.
According to Akinyode-Afolabi, “the preliminary findings were based on information available as of 12 noon on Election Day and should therefore be regarded as an early assessment of the electoral process rather than a final assessment of the election or its outcome.”
She said the observers would continue to monitor the process through the close of polls, counting, completion and handling of result forms, electronic results management and collation.
She added that “the Election Day Data Room would continue to receive and verify reports from observers as the process progressed, with a comprehensive end-of-day statement expected after the relevant procedures had been completed and the full dataset analysed.”
KDI reaffirmed its commitment to providing impartial and evidence-based information on the conduct of the election and urged all stakeholders to maintain a peaceful environment that would enable election officials and other authorised actors to complete voting, counting and collation.
The organisation said its final assessment would provide a more comprehensive picture of the election after all reports had been received, verified and analysed.
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