Introducing Additional Technology To Transmit Results Will Worsen Our Problems – INEC Commissioner

A National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Muhammed Haruna, has stated that technology will not fully address the challenges faced during elections.

Speaking during an interview on Trust TV on Monday, he asserted that there will always be glitches using technology for elections.

He was reacting to the recently passed and signed Electoral Amendment Act by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu, respectively.

Haruna argued that the gradual implementation of technology is crucial to address existing challenges.

According to the INEC National Commissioner, “There will always be glitches. Gradual implementation of technology is crucial, especially given existing infrastructure challenges.

“There’s a misunderstanding that technology offers a universal solution without issues. We already face difficulties transmitting simple polling unit results.

“Introducing additional technological layers, such as aggregating all polling unit data at the ward level for transmission, would only exacerbate these problems.”

Meanwhile, former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has asserted that with the troubling evidence and lapses in the conduct of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elections, nobody can trust the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Joash Amupitan, to deliver credible elections in 2027.

Naija News reports that Odinkalu, during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, described the performance of INEC as a failure.

Odinkalu argued that the shortcomings were not rooted in legal constraints but in a failure of will and poor electoral administration.

While describing the FCT poll as a ‘small election’, Odinkalu warned that the issues raised cast doubt on the commission’s preparedness for future polls.

He said, “INEC failed. Amupitan’s INEC failed woefully. And on this evidence, nobody can trust Josh to organise credible elections in 2027, good stuff. There is nothing else to it, okay?

“No, it’s not about the law. It is about the failure of will. It’s a failure of electoral administration. And no, I’m actually not far from painting a gloomy picture of elections in Nigeria. I’m actually saying that the picture is far from gloomy. The election administrators have got to do their homework, and if they are not willing to do their homework, they should get the hell out.

“But one, electoral logistics were poor. Number two, the management of electoral rules was poor.

“You reassigned people to different electoral units, polling units, with few hours to elections. No education, no investment in voter education or information management, nothing.

“Number three, the violence was unacceptable. Four results manifestly were changed in different places. Collation glitched on the day. This is in a small election in the Federal Capital Territory. This is disgraceful. Joash failed.”