INEC: Difficulties Transmitting Election Results Not Due to Sabotage
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that the challenges the commission was encountering especially with the transmission of results was not due to sabotage of its system.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye in a statement issued Sunday said the Commission was aware of challenges with the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
The commission noted that unlike in off-season elections where the portal was used, it has been relatively slow and unsteady.
Okoye stressed that the Commission regretted the setback, especially because of the importance of IReV in its results management process.
He said: “The problem is totally due to technical hitches related to scaling up the IReV from a platform for managing off-season, State elections, to one for managing nationwide general elections. It is indeed not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations.
“Consequently, the Commission wishes to assure Nigerians that the challenges are not due to any intrusion or sabotage of our systems, and that the IReV remains well-secured.”
The electoral body assured that its technical team was working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems, adding that the users of the IReV would have noticed improvements since last night.
It added: “We also wish to assure Nigerians that results from the Polling Units, copies of which were issued to political parties, are safe on both the BVAS and the IReV portal.
“These results cannot be tampered with and any discrepancy between them and the physical results used in collation will be thoroughly investigated and remediated, in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.”
The commission said while it fully appreciated the concerns of the public on this situation and welcomed various suggestions that it had received from concerned Nigerians, it was important to avoid statements and actions that could heat up the polity at this time or promote disaffection towards the Commission.
The commission said it accepted full responsibility for the problems and regretted the distress that they have caused the candidates, political parties and the electorate.
