Nigerian Elections Glitched
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Independent National Electoral Commission admits massive failures in the presidential and parliamentary election after accusations of colluding with the ruling party
The Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has admitted it failed in carrying out a credible electioral exercise 24 hours after polling closed in majority of states. In a statement released on Twitter it admitted that the capacity to manage the elections was not there pointing to the massive failure of the election result portal that went offline Saturday leading to delays in result transmission.
For the past 24 hours Nigerians have been accusing the electoral body of colluding with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to rig the election in favour of their presidential flagbearer Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The Commission is aware of challenges with the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV). Unlike in off-season elections where the portal was used, it has been relatively slow and unsteady. The Commission regrets this setback, especially because of the importance of IReV in our results management process.” Festus Okoye the INEC spokesman said in the statement.
The electoral body had four years to prepare for this election with a massive budget. It boasted that it was ready for the nationwide election now it admits that the IREV was programmed for state election and not for nationwide elections hence the delay in results transmissions.
“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.”
The commission went on to assure voters that there was no intrusion or sabotage of its IT systems.
“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 statement added.
INEC has so far refused to explain the voter intimidation, violence, vote buying in Ekiti, ballot box snatching with some polling units inactive.
“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.”
It then pleaded with Nigerians not to spread misinformation that will lead to break down of law and order.
“While we fully appreciate the concerns of the public on this situation and welcome various suggestions that we have received from concerned Nigerians, it is important to avoid statements and actions that can heat up the polity at this time or promote disaffection towards the Commission.”
“We take full responsibility for the problems and regret the distress that they have caused the candidates, political parties and the electorate.” The statement concluded.
Meanwhile both the Labour Party (LP) which according to projections is leading nationally and the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) have accused INEC of collusion and are demanding the immediate release of all the results.
Akowe reports from Lagos
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