INEC opens up on failed upload of 2023 presidential poll results on iReV

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why uploading of the February 25 presidential election results to its viewing portal failed.

The commission came under criticism from many Nigerians, particularly the opposition political parties over the failed upload of the results to the viewing portal.

INEC’s failure to upload the results on its iReV was one of the reasons the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, challenged President Bola Tinubu’s election victory in court.

In its official report of the 2023 elections released on Friday, the commission said while the House of Representatives and Senate elections were successfully uploaded, the presidential results failed to upload and instead “returned a HTTP server error response.”

It, however, added the failed upload of the presidential results sheets to iREV did not affect the credibility of the election.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who announced this in a statement in Abuja, said the report was reviewed and approved for publication at the commission’s weekly meeting held on Thursday.

He said: “The report showcases the election’s unparalleled diversity in party representation, demonstrating significant democratic progress.

“This election saw four political parties winning gubernatorial races, seven parties winning senatorial seats, eight in federal constituencies, and nine in state legislatures, illustrating a broad shift in political representation across Nigeria.

“The report underscores the pivotal role of technological advancements, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), in enhancing electoral integrity and reducing fraud.

“Furthermore, it addresses public concerns about the INEC Result Viewing (iReV) portal, explaining the technical issues encountered during the upload of polling unit results for the presidential election.

“Other aspects covered in the report include logistics, security arrangements, staff recruitment and training, inclusivity measures, and the electoral framework.”

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