Politics
Finally INEC opens up on why IReV failed during 2023 presidential election
By Emmanuel Agaji
Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally explained why the result viewing portal (IReV) failed during the February 2023 presidential election.
The election was won by Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third.
As reported by The Cable on Friday, the electoral umpire gave the explanation in a comprehensive post-mortem report on the 2023 general election released on the first anniversary of the election
The INEC report said the “HTTP error” its server returned during the presidential election was because of a configuration bug which was discovered after the presiding officers at the polling units could only upload the results of the National Assembly elections.
“In configuring and mapping the election results for the presidential and NASS elections,” the report sighted by The Cable reads, “the Commission created Four Hundred and Seventy (470) election types consisting of one presidential constituency covering the entire country, 109 Senatorial Districts and 360 Federal Constituencies.”
The report further noted, “Each Senatorial District and Federal Constituency election on the database was mapped to their respective States.”
It, however, noted that the presidential election result “is a single, countrywide constituency and therefore, does not belong to any one State.
“Consequently, while the uploads for the NASS elections succeeded as the application was able to identify the respective State and build the folder hierarchy for the results organization process for the election, attempts to upload the presidential election results sheets, which does not belong to or mapped to any State on the database, failed.
“Instead, it returned a HTTP server error response. This failure is attributable to the inability of the application to create and build a folder structure to organize the uploaded images of the result sheets of the presidential election.”
Narrating the IReV problem, the INEC in its report, said it was first reported at 4 pm on Election Day and was partially resolved in four hours.
The commission admitted that it was a key challenge that “impacted on the public perception” of the election and elicited “widespread commentary across the country”.
INEC said, “To begin with, it is important to note that the IReV portal is one of the most significant innovations introduced by the Commission prior to the 2023 General Election to promote the integrity and transparency of the electoral process. As a public-facing website, the IReV portal shows the images of the original Polling Unit result sheets as recorded in Form EC8A.
“The operational methodology and the concept behind the upload of results to the IReV for public viewing is quite simple. At the end of polls, Polling Unit results (Form EC8As) are scanned and uploaded to the IReV by the Presiding Officer(s). These results are then available for viewing to the public and all stakeholders.
“The system, which was first deployed during Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election in August 2020 and tested in 105 subsequent elections, including three (3) off-cycle governorship elections, has tremendously improved public confidence in the integrity and transparency of the Commission’s result management process.
“The challenge of uploading the PU presidential election results on the IReV after the presidential and NASS elections on 25th February 2023 was unique. As voting ended across the country and POs began the process of uploading the images of the PU result sheets of the elections for the various constituencies around 4:00pm, the Commission began to receive reports that attempts to upload presidential election result sheets was failing.
“Following these reports, the Commission immediately engaged with its field officials for details in order to understand, and trace the origin, source, scale and magnitude of the problem across the result management ecosystem to devise appropriate solutions.
“In the troubleshooting process, it was established that there was no issue in uploading the PU result sheets of the Senate and House of Representatives elections through the Election Result Modules. However, there was a problem with uploading the presidential election results to the system.
“Attempts to upload the results were generating internal server errors, which refer to a significant impairment that usually originate from within an application due to problems relating to configuration, permissions, or failure to create or access application resources correctly.
“Further interrogation of the Election Result Modules indicated that the system is encountering an unexpected configuration problem in mapping the presidential election results uploaded into the system to the participating Polling Units.
“Due to the complex, sensitive and critical nature of the systems and the real potential for malicious cyberattacks, the Commission immediately put in place several strict security and audit control measures to prevent any unfettered or elevated access to the Result Upload System.”
The commission said after identifying the source of the problem, it quickly created and deployed “hotfixes” — software updates for fixing a bug or any vulnerabilities in a system.
The deployed hotfixes eventually resolved the HTTP error on the system “and the first presidential election result sheet was successfully uploaded at 8.55 pm on the 25th of February 2023,” it said.
While rating itself high, INEC stated in the report.
“Yet, the 2023 General Election produced the most diverse outcome in recent Nigerian electoral history in terms of party representation in executive and legislative elections nationwide. Thus, four (4) political parties produced State Governors, seven (7) secured Senatorial seats, eight (8) won federal constituencies and nine (9) in State seats,” the report said.
A former aspirant for the position of the All Progressives Congress Deputy National Chairman (North), Sunny Moniedafe, has sued the ruling party, demanding the refund of the N10m he paid for the Nomination Form in 2022.
Moniedafe filed the suit before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
The case, which was scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, was, however, stalled due to the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu.
In the suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/2434/2024, Moniedafe explained that ahead of the March 26, 2022 National Convention of the APC, he picked up the N10m Nomination Form to contest the position of the APC Deputy National Chairman (North).
He explained that during the convention, the party’s leadership, under then-President Muhammadu Buhari, urged aspirants to step down, as the position of Deputy National Chairman had been agreed to go to someone from Borno State in the North-East geopolitical zone.
According to Moniedafe, ahead of the party’s convention, leadership agreed on a consensus candidate and urged other aspirants to step down, while ex-President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the aspirants who stepped down should be refunded with N10m.
However, he stated: “Disappointingly, the leadership of the defendant (APC) reneged on its promise and blatantly refused, failed, and neglected to refund the said N10m from March 2022 to the time of filing this case, despite repeated demands by me.”
He added that several letters were sent to key APC officials and leaders, including Buhari, former Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, President Bola Tinubu, and former Senate, President Ahmad Lawan, among others.
Moniedafe said despite these efforts, the letters—along with reminders about the refund— failed to produce the desired outcome.
He emphasised that at all material times concerning the directive, former President Buhari was regarded as the leader of the APC.
On this basis, Moniedafe sought reliefs, including an order directing the APC to refund N10m to him within seven clear days after the judgment, a fine of N100m as general damages for expenses incurred while campaigning for the position in 2022, and any further orders the court may deem fit and appropriate under the circumstances.
The ongoing legal battle regarding the September 21st governorship election in Edo State, the state’s election petition tribunal convened on Saturday, January 18, 2025, to consider the petition filed by Ighodalo Akintunde Asuelimen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Asuelimen is challenging the election victory of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The tribunal, operating under petition number EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, is tasked with reviewing the claims brought against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other respondents involved in the contentious election process.
During the proceedings, the tribunal provisionally admitted a plethora of documents submitted by the petitioners, a step viewed as crucial in validating their claims.
Counsel for the petitioners outlined the verification process undertaken by all parties prior to the submission of diverse documents as evidence, despite facing objections from the opposing respondents. These objections were noted, with the respondents opting to reserve their arguments for the final written addresses, indicating a protracted legal battle ahead.
The tribunal’s provisional admission of these extensive documents is one step for the petitioners, albeit with the understanding that further conditions may be imposed before these documents are fully accepted as part of the case record. The evidence presented included a total of over 70 exhibits from various local government areas, along with multiple forms and booklets that are critical to substantiating the petitioners’ claims.
Among the documents provisionally admitted were:
1. Certified True Copies (CTCs) of Forms EC8B from various wards across Akoko Edo, Egor, Esan Central, Esan North East, and Esan South East.
2. Forms EC8EL and EC8D, marked as Exhibits PA1 and PA2.
3. CTCs of Form EC8D from 18 polling units, designated as Exhibits PA3-PA20.
4. An extensive array of 320 copies of polling unit forms EC8A, admitted as Exhibit PCA1-PCA320.
5. 58 CTCs of Form EC8A obtained from INEC’s IREV portal, marked as Exhibits BDA1-BDA58.
6. 308 CTC polling unit booklets containing Form BC25B, noted as Exhibits PCB1-PCB308.
The atmosphere at the tribunal on Saturday was notably charged, with heightened security measures in place as armed Police and other security operatives ensured a secure environment, reflecting the increasing tensions surrounding the tribunal’s sessions leading up to this point.
The extended hearing on Saturday was indicative of the tribunal’s commitment to thoroughly addressing the substantial evidential submissions made by Ighodalo Akintunde Asuelimen and his legal team.
Following the extensive examination of the documents, the tribunal adjourned, scheduling its next session for Monday, January 20, 2025.
This upcoming session promises to be pivotal as the tribunal continues to navigate the complexities of the case and the implications it holds for the political landscape of Edo State.
All eyes will be on the tribunal as it picks up where it left off, amidst a charged atmosphere and a community eager for resolution.
Senator Ned Nwoko has announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The move, confirmed through reliable sources, has sparked discussions within political circles about its potential implications for the 2027 elections.
According to reports, Senator Nwoko’s decision to join the APC is influenced by speculation that former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is eyeing a Senate seat in the next electoral cycle.
This development is said to have prompted the senator to reconsider his political alliances, aligning with a party that may better support his future ambitions.
Senator Nwoko, who has been a prominent figure in Delta State politics and a key member of the PDP, is known for his strong advocacy for developmental projects and his stance on national unity.
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