The Independent National Electoral Commission’s plan to transmit election results electronically in 2023 is doubtful as the Federal Government has disclosed that only 473 out of 774 local government areas in the country have Internet access.
By implication, 301 local government areas have no Internet access, thus transmitting election results in those areas may not be possible in 2023 even if the Electoral Act is amended.
According to the National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 launched last week by the President Muhammadu Buhari and obtained by The PUNCH, the government projects that 697 LGAs will have Internet access by 2023. The 2023 elections are expected to hold in February.
In a tabular illustration in the development plan, the government pegged 473 as the baseline for the number of LGAs with Internet connection. This implies that the government targets providing Internet access to an additional 224 LGAs with Internet access by 2023.
When contacted, experts, who spoke to our correspondents, explained what government must do to ensure electronic transfer of election results in the 301 LGAs.
Meanwhile, experts at the Alliance for Affordable Internet listed conditions that must be met to ensure transmission of results in the 301 LGAs.
They advised the Federal Government to consider using satellite technology in the transmission of results electronically in the 2023 elections.
They also noted that there was no 3G access in over 300 LGAs in Nigeria, adding that this was part of the issues which the Nigerian Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025 was put together to address.
The National Coordinator for Alliance for Affordable Internet, who served as the immediate past President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Olusola Teniola, told one of our correspondents that it was possible to transmit results electronically as far as the pressing issues were addressed.
He said, “This number of LGAs that have not been covered was already captured in the Nigerian Broadband Plan of 2020 to 2025 and it is fairly straightforward.
“The issue is that there isn’t any tangible 3G access in these LGA and the idea now is to focus over the next six to nine months in ensuring that at least one of our operators will be able to provide service in those areas.
“This is in addition to satellite technology, which can cover all of those areas that do not have Internet at the moment.
“That means that on the day of the election, the transmission of results can be done via satellite on a specific time, location and based on the fact that we are just using it for the elections.
“If we are looking for continuous transmission, obviously we are looking at trying to ensure that there is infrastructure to provide continuous service.
“And that is the focus of the Nigerian Broadband Plan. It is not a solution for just one specific application but for continuous applications for those who are offline, among others. So we want to block that gap through the plan.”
He encouraged the government to work with ICT professionals in trying to provide the required services in the LGAs and expressed hope that the target of electronic transmission of results would be achieved in 2023.
▪︎INEC can use other platforms where Internet access is not available – Olurode
On his part, a former National Commissioner of INEC, Prof Lai Olurode, said lack of Internet facilities in some local government areas posed no threat to transmission of results, as INEC had liberty to use other platforms where Internet access was not available.
Olurode, who said no region of the country should be allowed to hold down others in terms of conduct of polls, noted that in places with no internet facilities, election results could be transmitted through manual platforms.
He said, “The law on electronic transmission of result has been amended by the National Assembly to give INEC the power to determine adopt electronic transmission of result as it is convenient.
“It is not compulsory that we should have e-transmission of results across the country. In fact, if anything is wrong with our election, it is the uniformity without variation.”
Also, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, said, “It is possible for them to extend Internet access to these areas within their time frame. You install satellite dishes all over the country in less than one week. It is very possible, depending on the technology.
“For the electronic transmission of result to occur, there has to be Internet access everywhere. And since the government has said they would increase access, they would.”
However, INEC had argued that it could devise means of transmitting results in areas with no Internet access.
In a chat with The PUNCH on Tuesday, INEC’s National Commissioner for Voter Education and Publicity, Festus Okoye, said the commission was capable of transmitting results electronically.
Okoye said, “The commission has been consistent, robust and clear on its position relating to electronic transmission of election results. We uploaded the results of Edo, Ondo and Anambra governorship elections to our result viewing portal.
“We uploaded the results of several senatorial, House of Representatives and state assembly elections. We uploaded results from polling units in riverine areas. We uploaded results from polling units in conflict areas. We uploaded results from polling units in mountainous areas and valleys.
“The new law will only remove impediments and obstacles to the electronic collation of results.”
In a document released in November by INEC titled, ‘Position Paper No. 1/2021. Electronic Transmission of Election Results’, INEC further claimed that 2G technology was enough to transmit results electronically.
The commission noted that while 3G and 4G would be faster, 2G could also do it even though it would be slower.
The Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had on December 21 at a meeting with resident electoral commissioners said the commission would continue to deepen the use of technology in the conduct of elections, especially the electronic transmission of polls results and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
He explained that the uploading of Polling Unit results on the commission’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on Election Day, has come to stay.
Besides direct primaries, another controversial provision in the Electoral Act Amendment bill, which the President Muhammadu Buhari, refused to sign two weeks ago, is the electronic transfer of election results, which generated different reactions before it was passed by the National Assembly.
The Senate had also in its version, empowered the Nigerian Communications Commission to determine the electronic transmission of election results.
The House did not give such powers to the NCC in its version.
The provision caused an outrage, with many calling on the Senate to follow the example of the House of Representatives which adopted the use of technology “where practicable.”
The development led to the setting up of a conference committee.
In the conference committee report, both chambers of the National Assembly empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission to determine the best mode to transmit election results. (THE PUNCH)
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
