Former INEC Commissioner Explains 2023 IReV Presidential Results Uploading Glitch
Festus Okoye, former INEC National Commissioner, revealed that the 2023 general election faced a critical technical challenge with presidential results upload to the IReV portal, escalating into a crisis where electoral officers were harmed. Okoye attributed the issue to technology malfunction, despite extensive preparations by the commission.
Former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, has disclosed that the commission faced a significant technical problem while uploading polling unit-level presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
Okoye said the problem initially appeared to be a short delay but quickly escalated into a wider crisis, with some electoral officers beaten, injured and left in distress as efforts to resolve the issue continued. He stressed that the difficulty specifically affected the presidential election results, while the Senate and House of Representatives results conducted on the same day did not face the same problem.
Okoye explained that after reports emerged about the failed uploads, the INEC chairman sought assurances from the commission’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) personnel that the problem would be resolved quickly.
What was initially expected to take about20 minutes instead developed into a major crisis, with electoral officers reportedly facing attacks while the technical problem persisted. He maintained that the technology malfunctioned, but said the explanation was difficult for many Nigerians to accept, and recalled pushing officials to communicate the problem in simpler terms rather than using highly technical language.
The former commissioner said he was particularly disappointed by the incident because INEC had undertaken extensive preparations and monitored developments across the states before election day. He recalled challenging the technical team to simply tell Nigerians that the commission was experiencing difficulties uploading presidential results to IReV, although officials insisted that the explanation had to reflect the technology’s technical specifications.
Okoye ultimately described the episode as a failure of technology that overshadowed the preparations made by electoral officials, saying the experience remained a major disappointment for those who had worked extensively to prepare for the election.