INEC Breaks Silence on Alleged Manipulation of Accreditation Data in Kogi Election
- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted claims of tampering with the results of the Kogi state governorship election on the results viewing portal
- Kogi was one of the three states where off-cycle elections were conducted by INEC on Saturday, November 11
- While some reports have claimed that the commission tampered with the Kogi election results on the portal, INEC asked the public to disregard it
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 6-year-experience covering politics and elections in Nigeria
Lokoja, Kogi state - The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, November 14, refuted allegations that accreditation data on its result viewing (IReV) portal was manipulated during the Kogi governorship election.
INEC in a statement by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, national commissioner and member of the Information and Voter Education Committee, said media reports that it tampered with the accredited figures of voters in the Kogi governorship election results uploaded on the IReV portal "are unfounded".
Source: Facebook
'Accreditation data on IReV not manipulated' - INEC
Legit.ng recalls that the 2023 Kogi state governorship election was held on Saturday, November 11.
The election produced Ahmed Ododo of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.
INEC's statement reads:
"For the avoidance of doubt, the most accurate and up-to-date Voters’ Accreditation Data is available in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which is used for the authentication and accreditation of registered voters at various polling units on election day. It automatically retains the accreditation data of all voters."
Furthermore, the electoral umpire said BVAS is designed to primarily work offline without internet connectivity, "which facilitates faster and seamless authentication and accreditation experience for voters".
It added:
"However, when its application is active or in use, depending on the strength of its connection to the internet, the BVAS automatically exports the accreditation data to the Accreditation Backend System (ABS)."
The statement by INEC continued:
"This exportation of data does not happen when the device’s application is inactive or when the internet connectivity is poor. The same experience applies to a situation where more than one BVAS gadget is used at a polling unit with more than 1,250 registered voters. This could be compared to a situation when poor network services delay the delivery of an SMS sent from one individual to another through a mobile phone."
INEC explained that at the close of poll, presiding officers (POs) are expected to press the data exportation button on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to ensure that all the accreditation data are exported to the ABS.
It said:
"This process, referred to as synchronisation and which is ongoing, could lead to changes in the accreditation figures as more data flow in to update the existing figures.
"This is the basis for the caveat provided on the IReV portal, regarding the accreditation figures.
"The accreditation data cannot be changed on the BVAS after the close of poll."
INEC therefore asked Nigerians to "disregard the misleading report and misinformation".
Kogi election: INEC declares Ododo winner
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that INEC officially declared Ododo as the winner of the governorship election in Kogi state.
Ododo cruised to victory over his main contenders, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After announcing the remaining results of the poll at the INEC office in Lokoja on Sunday night, returning officer, Johnson Urama, said Ododo had a total of 446,237 votes to defeat his closest rival, SDP's Ajaka, who polled 259,052 votes. Melaye came third with 46,362 votes.
Source: Legit.ng
