Prof. Joash Amupitan, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday blamed the commission’s failure to achieving real-time upload of election results from polling units across the country to poor telecommunications connectivity.
Amupitan revealed this yesterday at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room’s Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections in Abuja, explained that poor poor telecommunications connectivity remains the commission’s major challenge in conducting electronically credible election in the country.
He said that despite technological gains, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), weak network coverage continues to limit full real-time transparency, especially in remote areas.
Amupitan noted that the commission’s strategic response to the imperative of credibility has been the systemic infusion of technology, legally backed by the Electoral Act 2022, into our electoral system.
He said, “The deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has fundamentally redefined the process. It ensured that only genuinely accredited voters could cast their ballot, closing the door on over-voting and manual manipulation.
“Also, the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) Portal has opened the electoral process to the world, making results available for public scrutiny on election day. This transparency is the new baseline for trust in our process. However, technology is not a panacea.
“The nation’s telecommunications network remains a formidable obstacle. With over 176,000 Polling Units, some of which are in remote areas, achieving real-time upload of all results to the IReV remains one of our toughest operational battles. As I have stated before, a tool like the BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on.”
The INEC Chairman said the Commission has intensified engagement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and major network providers to improve connectivity, while exploring alternative transmission technologies and redundancy systems to reduce delays experienced during elections.
Amupitan, who spoke on the theme “Securing Nigeria’s Democracy: Building Consensus for Credible Elections and Accountable Governance,” stressed that while technology has strengthened accreditation and reduced manipulation, it cannot overcome network limitations without stronger multi-sector support.
Amupitan also expressed concern about persistent voter apathy, recalling that the 2023 general election recorded just above 27 per cent turnout.
He said recent successes, such as the sharp rise in Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection rates in Anambra following targeted mobilisation, demonstrate what is possible when institutions and communities work together.
Amupitan, also explained why those arrested for engaging in vote-buying during the recent governorship election in Anambra state, have not been charged to court.
According to him, whereas the INEC is statutorily empowered to prosecute electoral offenders, however, security agencies that carried out the arrests have not submitted their investigation reports to the Commission.
Amupitan said the electoral body has been liaising with the relevant agencies to secure the reports.
He said: “I am happy to know that you are aware that some people were arrested, and people are saying, what have you done?
“We are reaching to the police. We are reaching to EFCC. We are reaching to all the other agencies. We will need reports on the investigations conducted in respect of those people that were arrested.
“Because the power of INEC is to prosecute, not to arrest. We don’t have that capacity for now.
“We are liaising with the law engineering agencies to ensure that those that were arrested will have their day in court.”
The INEC boss maintained that to secure democracy, technological integrity must be matched by political accountability.
“We recognise that vote-buying and financial inducement derail the will of the people. To combat this, we have intensified our collaboration with law enforcement agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
“The strategic deployment of security personnel and covert intelligence operations at election centres is designed to protect voters from intimidation and resist inducement.
“This is a multi-sectoral fight that requires collective resolve. Civil Society Organisations must play their part decisively to hold all stakeholders, including political parties, to account,” he added.