…promises improve elections in future
By Udesinanna Stephen
The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has insisted that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was successful, but the “uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), especially for the presidential election, encountered a glitch.”
As obtained from the official Twitter handle of INEC @inecnigeria, the Commission’s Chairman spoke during a meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the review of the 2023 General Election at the Commission’s conference room, Abuja.
Although, Yakubu said INEC is aware that the 2023 general election is in court for contention and would reserve further comments on the matter. “Nevertheless, the performance of the technology deployed for the election is part of the ongoing review of the 2023 General Election.” He added.
Commending INEC innovation on the recent elections, he said, “We were also able to expand voter access to polling units for the first time since the initial delimitation exercise in 1996. Similarly, we introduced many technology-based innovations, including the physical registration and online pre-registration of voters using the INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED, the various portals for the nomination of candidates, party agents and the accreditation of observers and the media.
“We also collected and published data on the distribution of voters not only by age and occupation but also by disability. Within the limits of available resources, we also tried to provide such inclusivity materials as braille jackets and magnifying glasses for some categories of voters with disabilities.”
He said INEC is open to critique about the election and promised to improve the future conduct of elections so as to consolidate democracy.