According to a report by Channels TV, on Saturday August 29, 2026, Jonathan Ayodele, Director of Training & Education and a leading Cybersecurity Expert, expressed serious technical concerns about Nigeria’s Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of upcoming elections. He warned that the devices are operating on an Android version that Google officially discontinued, potentially leaving the system exposed to security risks that may not receive future protection or technical support.
Ayodele identified the central concern as the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) reliance on Android 10 as the foundation of its BVAS software framework. Google officially phased out Android 10 in early 2023, meaning the operating system is no longer part of the company’s active security-support cycle.
When an operating system reaches this stage, newly discovered vulnerabilities may remain unaddressed because the developer no longer routinely provides security patches or other protective updates.
“The issue there, coming from a security point of view again, is that Android is owned by Google, right? Everybody knows Google,” Ayodele explained. “And in 2023, Google phased out Android 10. What that means is that from a security point of view… Google will stop releasing updates—security, not even just updates, security updates—for Android 10.”
He said the consequence for BVAS is that the system is currently running on an operating system that has already been retired by its owner and producer, Google. This could create a significant technical challenge if a vulnerability is discovered in the software or devices, because the underlying operating system may not receive the patches needed to correct the problem. In practical terms, the concern is that a security weakness could remain unresolved and potentially affect the reliability and protection of election-related technology.
“So what it means now for BVAS is that BVAS is currently running on an operating system that is already phased out by the owners, the producers, which is Google,” he warned. “So it means that if there’s any security issue in the BVAS system, it will not be fixed by Google. Because as far as Google is concerned, it doesn’t concern them again.” They have issued updates and instructed everyone to update their systems. If users want to continue receiving support directly from Google, they must upgrade their systems to at least version 11.”
Ayodele further explained that addressing the problem is not as straightforward as installing a routine software patch. Because of hardware constraints, the devices cannot simply receive a direct operating system upgrade without the hardware itself also being updated or replaced.
“The recent review also indicated that the system cannot be updated because doing so would essentially require updating or upgrading the device itself,” Ayodele added. “When all these points are considered together, the first concern is that the device is currently operating on an outdated system, which could leave it vulnerable to cybersecurity risks.”
Watch the video starting from 1:04 to 2:38
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