INEC Highlights Progress and Challenges in Ensuring Secure and Transparent Elections.
INEC Highlights Progress and Challenges in Ensuring Secure and Transparent Elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified poor telecommunications connectivity as the primary obstacle to uploading election results in real time. Speaking at the 2025 Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibitions in Abuja, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, highlighted that despite notable progress with the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), network issues still hinder the seamless transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
Represented by National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu, Prof. Amupitan acknowledged that uneven network coverage across Nigeria remains a significant challenge. A statement from INEC’s Chief Press Secretary, Dayo Oketola, noted that while the commission has successfully curbed voter impersonation and multiple voting, connectivity gaps in remote and hard-to-reach areas continue to impede real-time result uploads.
He explained that with over 176,846 polling units located in diverse environments—ranging from swamps to mountain peaks—achieving instant result transmission is a continuous struggle in ensuring electoral transparency. “A tool like BVAS is only as good as the network it runs on,” Amupitan emphasized. INEC plans to collaborate with the Nigerian Communications Commission and other network providers to find solutions and is also exploring alternative technologies to bridge the connectivity gaps.
