2019 Poll: We Know Nothing About INEC Server – EU

The European Union Election Observation Mission, EU EOM, in Nigeria has said that it knows nothing about the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC server allegedly used to transmit results of the 2019 general elections.

Speaking at a Press Conference on the EU Election Observation Mission report held at the Transcorp Hilton, the Deputy Chief Observer for the EU Mission, Hannah Roberts disclosed that the Mission relied on results that were released by INEC.

Reacting to questions from Journalists, Roberts stressed that the EU Mission in Nigeria is unaware of an INEC server by which results were transmitted during the election.

“The EU had to rely on INEC’s explanation in result transmission,” she said while answering the question on INEC server.

Earlier, Maria Arena, EU Chief Observer had presented a final report with recommendations for electoral reforms. She said the EU EOM had 91 observers on ground for the Presidential and National Assembly elections across Nigeria.

She added that 73 Observers were deployed for the Governorship and State House of Assembly election while only 20 observers were used for the supplementary elections.

Following its observation mission, she noted that the EU EOM had 30 recommendations on how to improve future electoral processes in Nigeria. 
“The mission concluded that the systemic failings seen in the elections, and the relatively low levels of voter participation, show the need for fundamental electoral reform.”

The EU report prioritized seven recommendations of the 30, one of which was that Nigeria, “Strengthen INEC procedures for the collation of results to improve integrity and confidence in electoral outcomes.”

Another recommendation was that, “Electoral tribunals cover pre-election cases in order to improve access to remedy and to avoid petitions being taken to different courts at the same time.”

However, it will be recalled that INEC has said it has no server for the 2019 general elections.