Why 2019 Elections Results were Not Transmitted To INEC Server- Soyebi

Akin Olayemi

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified controversies surrounding the Electoral Acts

and late release of funds to the commission for the 2019 polls as reasons the results of the 2019 general elections could not be transmitted electronically to its server.

This was made known by INEC National Commissioner Solomon Soyebi at the Post-election Retreat organised for its members

and ad hoc workers engaged by the commission in the last general elections in Osun State.

According to Soyebi, INEC only experimented the technology during some staggered elections held in 2018.

He explained that many factors forced the commission to drop the idea of electronic transmission of the results to central server.

He said INEC experimented the use of electronic transmission of results with Anambra, Sokoto and Osun elections, held

before the February and March elections but it did not sustain the use of the technology during general elections.

He said: “We piloted the use of transmission of election results electronically in Sokoto, in Anambra, even in Osun.

What happened was that we were trying to pilot to see the desirability of such technology in our electoral process.

“First, our budget came out very late, there was also issue of Electoral Act.

For these and some other reasons, the Commission did not adopt that option. 2019 elections were conducted according to Law.

“We used the Constitution of the Federal Republic, we used Electoral Act and our guidelines for 2019 elections.

If you look at the three instruments carefully, the issue of server was not highlighted.

“Once in a while, you will see an experiment going on but we have to pilot it before we will deploy wholesale for election.

We did not use it because of the circumstances beyond the control of the Commission.”