Former INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega Calls for Probe into Presidential Poll Result Upload Failure

• Former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, called for a thorough examination of the reasons behind the failure to upload presidential election results to the INEC results viewing portal (IReV)
• Jega stressed the importance of a transparent investigation within INEC to understand the cause of the upload failure and assign responsibility

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has urged INEC to thoroughly examine the reasons behind the failure to upload the results of the presidential election to the INEC results viewing portal (IReV).

In an interview with ARISE Television, Jega expressed his understanding of the challenges faced during the general election. Still, he emphasized the importance of investigating the specific issue related to uploading election results.

Jega stated, “If you are confident in the planning process, and despite your confidence, there is a failure at some point, as the leader, you must take responsibility. It does not imply that you deliberately compromised the process. Our assessment should be fair.”

The former INEC chairman mentioned that an assessment of the success and failure rate of the card reader had been conducted before he left the commission. He pointed out that while the card reader experienced failures in approximately 5% of deployment locations, it achieved a 95% success rate. However, Jega noted that the media and politicians often focused on the instances where the card reader failed.

Jega also highlighted the significance of the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as a valuable addition to the electoral process. He mentioned that the major failure observed during the elections was related to uploading results to the IReV, particularly concerning the presidential election.

He emphasized the need for a transparent investigation into why the upload process failed during the presidential election. Jega expressed his belief that such an inquiry should be conducted within INEC and in a manner that allows for transparency. He anticipated that a comprehensive investigation would reveal the reasons behind the failure and help assign responsibility for the outcome.