The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has responded to criticisms regarding the glitch experienced during the upload of the presidential election results on February 25. INEC emphasized that it is unfair to judge the entire commission based solely on this challenge.
In the final report on the 2023 general elections submitted by the European Union Election Observation Mission, concerns were raised about the operational failures and lack of transparency that damaged public confidence in INEC during the February 25 election. While some corrective measures were implemented for the March 18 governorship elections, trust was not fully restored, leading civil societies to call for an independent audit of the entire process. The EU observation team presented six priority recommendations.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner, responded to the report and urged Nigerians not to judge the electoral commission solely based on the result upload glitch in the presidential election. He highlighted that political parties have the power to monitor activities at the polling units, with over 170,000 polling agents nominated and accredited. These agents provide primary evidence of the results, and it is these results, along with the use of the BVAS machine, that are taken to the collation center. Okoye emphasized that political parties should not rely solely on result uploads as the basis for legal cases but should utilize the evidence gathered from the polling units.
