Impact of Technology on Elections in Nigeria: A Case of the 2023 General Elections

Abstract

The 2023 Nigerian General Elections were a turning point in the nation's democratic history because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which oversees elections, implemented innovations like the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to increase credibility and transparency. Although these technologies made the election better in certain ways, they also had problems, which led to discussions about how effective they were. Vote manipulation, ballot box snatching, and result falsification have plagued Nigeria's electoral history, raising widespread doubts about the results of elections. The 2022 Electoral Act required electronic accreditation and result transmission by law in an effort to address these problems. It was proclaimed a game-changer when BVAS was implemented, combining biometric verification (facial recognition and fingerprint) with real-time result uploads. However, as the 2023 elections showed, technological dependability, institutional dedication, and judicial enforcement are necessary for technology to be effective in ensuring electoral integrity. The impact of technology on Nigeria's 2023 elections is examined in this chapter, with particular attention to BVAS and IReV. The following questions are among those it answers: Was the credibility of electoral fraud weakened or did BVAS reduce it? What was the impact of real-time result transmission on public confidence in INEC? What were the obstacles to BVAS and IReV implementation? Which lessons can Nigeria learn for future elections? It is desk research and relies on secondary sources of data.