From Victor Osula, Abuja
Poor telecommunications connectivity remains the biggest hurdle to real-time election result uploads across Nigeria, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said.
Speaking at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room’s Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections in Abuja on Thursday, Amupitan noted that weak network coverage continues to limit transparency, despite technological tools like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“The deployment of BVAS has fundamentally redefined the electoral process, ensuring that only genuinely accredited voters cast their ballots and preventing over-voting and manipulation. The IReV portal allows public scrutiny of results on election day. However, technology alone cannot overcome the limitations of the nation’s telecommunications network. With over 176,000 polling units, achieving real-time uploads remains one of our toughest operational challenges”, he said.
Amupitan revealed that INEC is actively engaging the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and major network providers to improve connectivity, while exploring alternative transmission and redundancy systems to reduce election-day delays.
He expressed concern over persistent voter apathy, noting that turnout in the 2023 general election was just above 27 percent. Nevertheless, targeted mobilisation efforts have shown positive results, including a sharp rise in Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection in Anambra State.
“To secure democracy, technological integrity must be matched by political accountability”, Amupitan said, warning against vote-buying and financial inducement. He stressed that civil society organisations, alongside security agencies, play a critical role in protecting voters and ensuring electoral credibility.
