• Friday, November 22, 2024
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BVAS Controversy: INEC blames ‘technical hitches’ for inactive portal

INEC: Wrong time to mess up with numbers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has blamed technical hitches for issues faced with its result viewing portal (IReV) during the general election in Africa’s biggest economy.

In a statement on Sunday signed by Festus Okoye, INEC’s national commissioner, the commission said it is aware the IReV has been relatively slow and unsteady.

“The Commission is aware of the 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,” INEC said,

Read also: INEC declares Abia South Presidential/NA elections inconclusive

It added, “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.”

INEC noted that its technical team is working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems. “Users of the IReV would have noticed improvements since last night”.

“We also wish to assure Nigerian that results from the Polling unicopies of which were issued to political parties are safe on both the BVAS and the IRev portal,” INEC said.

“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,” INEC explained.

Although voting ended in some places on Saturday, the portal was inactive for hours, raising concerns from voters, civil society organisations, and observer groups.

 

 

Dipo Oladehinde is a skilled energy analyst with experience across Nigeria's energy sector alongside relevant know-how about Nigeria’s macro economy. He provides a blend of market intelligence, financial analysis, industry insight, micro and macro-level analysis of a wide range of local and international issues as well as informed technical rudiments for policy-making and private directions.

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