The Chairman-designate of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan has pledged to conduct an audit of the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal to address glitches that undermined public confidence during the 2023 general elections.
The IReV portal was part of the technologies introduced by the commission to improve the transparency of the electoral process.
The portal remained inactive for an extended period, even after voting was concluded at some polling units, prompting suspicion from many electorate.
During his screening at the Senate on Thursday, Amupitan noted that the purpose of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and IReV is to ensure the integrity of elections, a goal shared by election technologies worldwide.
He said: ‘I believe what happened in 2023 was subsumed as a glitch.
He ssaid that the Supreme Court later clarified that IReV is not an electronic collation system, a position that was not adequately communicated by INEC before the election.
‘The IReV was supposed to be a safeguard for comparison because the laws made by this distinguished Senate did not do away with manual collation. However, IReV was supposed to provide some guarantee for checks and balances’, Amupitan added.
He said that he would audit the system to identify the actual issues and assess whether it is currently capable of meeting the electoral needs of the country.
He said; ‘I have to audit the system, if I’m given the opportunity, to see what is actually wrong and whether we have what it takes as it is now.
Amupitan assured the Senate that he would explore constitutional provisions to guarantee the commission’s true independence, if confirmed.
He acknowledged that INEC’s autonomy has been hampered by financial constraints and a lack of awareness of its constitutional powers.
Amupitan pledged to examine the constitution, alongside laws enacted by the national assembly, to ensure INEC’s independence.
He promised to conduct an audit to identify factors limiting autonomy and address them accordingly.
He added: ‘We will look at the spirit and letter of the constitution, as well as the laws made by the national assembly.
‘We will use our knowledge to ensure that INEC is independent. And we will have an audit to see what are those factors and we shall deal with them accordingly. I can give that assurance’.
Amupitan replaces Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who bowed out as INEC chairman on 7 October after serving two terms of five years each.
