The former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has blamed the failure of the Commission’s IReV Portal during the 2023 general elections on reckless politicians, News About Nigeria reports.
Jega stated this while speaking on Channels Television’s Inside Sources Programme on Friday, noting that desperate and reckless politicians ruined the efforts by INEC to get it right and infiltrated the portal.
He noted that the Commission did its best in 2023 and under difficult circumstances, which were caused by the mindset of selfish politicians in the country who wanted to win by hook or by crook.
He maintained that the Electoral Commission has over time introduced technologies that will make the process of election results very transparent with integrity, but noted that the Nigerian politicians have always frustrated their efforts by trying to be a step ahead of INEC.
He noted that this trend has continued to thrive since his days as chairman of the Commission from 2011 to 2015.
“If you introduce something today and you try it, they try to be a step ahead of you and beat it by the next election,” he said.
He further stated that politicians can also use ways and means to not only truncate but also bypass something that has been put legitimately to add to the integrity of the process.
He maintained that INEC needs to come clean and talk about what happened to the IReV Portal, adding that it was necessary for an inquiry to be carried out on what happened during the election.
