Technology 0, Politicians 1: New machines did not help Nigerian voters 06.05.2026

Nigeria’s 2023 elections saw the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a €70 million technology investment, fail to upload presidential results despite functioning for parliamentary contests, leading to widespread allegations of manipulation. Polling officials like Josephine Ochadamu reported nationwide glitches only for the presidential vote, while former electoral official Tonie Iredia attributed the failure to "human intervention by politicians." Investigations revealed significant gaps between accredited voters and recorded votes in some areas, and a BBC tally found opposition candidate Peter Obi won in Rivers State before the result was overturned. The European Union, which provided €13 million for training, primarily funded the tech firm DAI Global with €18 million for technical support, while its "civil society" funding allocations lacked transparency.














