The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has acknowledged the technical glitches that occurred during the 2023 elections but assured Nigerians that lessons have been learned and measures are in place to prevent a recurrence.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, made this statement during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
Oyekanmi explained that while technology has significantly aided INEC’s operations, it is not infallible and can experience downtime, similar to what happens with global tech giants like Facebook and Instagram.
His words, “Technology is good; we have no doubt about it. It has helped the work of INEC; but I always say that technology is not a silver bullet; it does not solve all problems.
“Take the pictures all around the world whether on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram. They have what they call downtime. It is a hard situation where you can’t access Facebook for 24 hours. And these are global tech companies that have what it takes not to even have glitches.
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“Your phone sometimes may misbehave; That is the way it’s. Nobody plans for failure. Even the South Africa you referred to, initially they had a glitch before they were able to correct it. But people don’t report that. They just talk about what they are doing.
“We had a glitch but it was corrected. Those results are on IREV as we speak. The presidential election results are there for those who want to see.
“We are ready for the Edo election. We have learnt our lessons. This is the third governorship election we are conducting in Edo. This commissioner has the privilege to conduct the first one in 2016 and came out well. The second one 2020 came out well and now we are going for the third one,” he added
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