The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is collaborating with major network services providers like MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9Mobile, to address any hitch that may arise during the elections.
This was made known by INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, during the INEC media briefing on Friday in Abuja.
Yakubu said INEC has also taken sufficient steps to fortify and protect its systems and processes against malicious attacks, adding that the commission has vast experience in election results transmission via the iREV while the BVAS requires an online process only at the point of polling unit uploading.
INEC on top of the situation
- The INEC Chairman said, “We have taken sufficient steps to fortify and protect our systems and processes. I must also say we are leaving certain things when it comes to cyber security to ourselves because the walls have ears but Nigerians should rest assured that we are aware that our resources may be susceptible to attacks but we have taken measures.
- “We have tremendous experience in transmitting results in real-time in Nigeria. We successfully transmitted results for 105 constituencies nationwide. Please be rest assured that we are aware of the challenges and we have the capacity within the commission to be able to respond to the challenges.
- “After all, the BVAS is not an electronic voting machine; it will not operate online on election day. It is completely offline. Where we need a little bit of internet connectivity is when we transmit results from the Polling Unit and we are on top of the game.’’
For the record
- In a related development, telecom operators under the aegis of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria had earlier in November 2022, assured Nigerians that the deployment of the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results of the 2023 election are possible with the quality of telecoms architecture available in the country.
- ATCON, the umbrella body for all the telecoms companies in Nigeria, including MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, Glo, and other operators, said the nation’s telecommunication infrastructure had matured to the level it could transmit election results in 2023.
- The assurance follows the doubts expressed by some Nigerians and stakeholders in the electoral system, over INEC’s capacity to deliver a credible election using the BVAS and the Results Viewing Portal, otherwise known as the electronic transmission of election results.
- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had also pointed out that the commission is working with telecommunications companies to ensure that the needed infrastructure is in place.
