The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the failure to upload the result of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections on its server was due to technical fault.

INEC said the challenges were not due to any intrusion or sabotage of its systems, noting that the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) remains well-secured.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.

Okoye stated: “The Commission is aware of challenges with the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV). Unlike in off-season elections where the portal was used, it has been relatively slow and unsteady. The Commission regrets this setback, especially because of the importance of IReV in our results management process.

“The problem is totally due to technical hitches related to scaling up the IReV from a platform for managing off-season, State elections, to one for managing nationwide general elections. It is indeed not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations.

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“Consequently, the Commission wishes to assure Nigerians that the challenges are not due to any intrusion or sabotage of our systems, and that the IReV remains well-secured.

“Our technical team is working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems, and users of the IReV would have noticed improvements since last night.”

The INEC official assured Nigerians that the results from the polling units which were sent to political parties are safe on both the BVAS and the IReV portal.

“These results cannot be tampered with and any discrepancy between them and the physical results used in collation will be thoroughly investigated and remediated, in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.

“While we fully appreciate the concerns of the public on this situation and welcome various suggestions that we have received from concerned Nigerians, it is important to avoid statements and actions that can heat up the polity at this time or promote disaffection towards the Commission.

“We take full responsibility for the problems and regret the distress that they have caused the candidates, political parties and the electorate,” he added.

The Star