News
How INEC Innovations to Strengthen Electoral Process is Anchored on Technology

Over the years Nigeria’s electoral system has been faced with credibility issues rising from wide spread rigging and falsification of results, multiple registration of voters, intimidation of voters among other electoral offenses. These vices have persisted in spite of efforts by past chairmen of the umpire body Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to change the narrative.
However, things are beginning to change for the better for the country’s electoral system evident in the just concluded Anambra state governorship election held on November 6, 2021. There were innovations introduced by Inec during that election that help to improve the process and reassured confidence of the people in the process.
These innovations according to Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at an interactive meeting with online publishers in Lagos are driven by technology.
He said: “Determined to deepen the use of technology and reduce human intervention in the critical stages of the electoral process, the Commission introduced new innovations.
“A few of them are identified as follows: Submission and Processing of Nominations Forms and Other Applications. The Commission has been discouraging human intervention in the electoral process. Since the 2019 General Election, the following activities are now conducted either partially or entirely online through dedicated portals: Voter pre-registration; Nomination of candidates for election by political parties; Submission of list of polling and collation agents by political parties; Accreditation of national and international observers for election; and Accreditation of media organisations for elections. Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Launch of Online
Registration Portal
“You will recall that the Commission often undertakes a fresh registration of eligible voters with every general election until 2010 when the first reliable biometric register of voters was compiled. Thereafter, the practice is to undertake intermittent registration of voters on the eve of major elections.
“However, in April 2017, this Commission for the first time began the implementation of the registration of voters on a continuous basis as provided in the Electoral Act.
“By the time the CVR was suspended in August 2018 to prepare for the 2019 General Election, a total of 14,283,734 new voters had been registered and added to the national register of voters, increasing the overall number to 84, 004 084.
“However, the CVR could not resume as planned after the general election due in part to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the earlier part of 2020.
“In our determination to serve Nigerians better and in response to repeated calls by stakeholders, the Commission introduced a dedicated portal for online registration on 28th June 2021.
“This allows intending registrants to commence the process online by filling the forms, upload their pictures and required documents, and then make an appointment on the web portal for a date and time to visit an INEC State or Local Government Area (LGA) office to give their fingerprints and complete the registration. In addition, those who are already registered as voters can carry out all the other activities such as transfers, correction of personal details and replacement of damaged or defaced
Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) Online
“Nigerians have fully embraced and are taking full advantage of the services available on the portal. The Commission has also been updating Nigerians every week on new development since the CVR started. As of 22nd November 2021, the CVR platform had recorded a total of 4,297,494 fresh registrants while 1,856,771 registrants have validated their application.
“The INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) In June this year, INEC introduced a special gadget designed in-house by the Commission’s Engineers but fabricated abroad. It performs a variety of functions including physical registration of voters, fingerprint and facial authentication on election day and uploading of the polling unit result sheets to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
“While the device was used as the INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED) at the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration in June this year, it first was deployed for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the Isoko South 1 State Constituency bye-election in Delta State on 11th September 2021 and later for the recently concluded Anambra Governorship election. In both elections, the equipment performed the functions of the Smart Card Readers (SCR) and the Z-Pad.
INEC Result Viewing Portal
“In our effort to engender transparency in the electoral process, the Commission unveiled the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to make available for public view copies of the polling unit election result sheet, known as Form EC8A on Election Day. By Clicking on http://inecelectionresults.com and creating an account and password, any interested Nigerian can have access to the portal and view polling unit results are they are uploaded live.
“The Nasarawa Central Constituency bye election held on 8th August was the first to have its polling units’ results uploaded to the portal, followed by the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections.
“However, before the introduction of IReV, the Commission had, during the 2017 Anambra State Governorship election, introduced the pasting of Form EC 60E, also known as the “People’s Result Sheet” at Polling Units, where citizens could view the result of each polling unit.
Inclusivity
“The Commission recognizes that some members of the society need special attention to make it possible for them to participate actively in the electoral process.
“The Commission meets regularly with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) representing Persons Living with Disability with a view to understanding their needs and bringing them up to speed on policies and actions that may affect them. In response to demands, the Commission now deploys assistive facilities such as the Braille Ballot
“Guide and magnifying glasses during elections to enable vision-impaired voters, persons living with Albinism and other individuals who may so require, to take advantage of the resources to vote unaided.
“Indeed, the Commission also cares about internally displaced Nigerians who were forced to flee their homes due to natural disasters, insurgency, activities of bandits and other criminals.
“In September 2018, the Commission developed the INEC Framework on Access and Participation of Persons with Disabilities, followed by the Regulations and Framework for Voting by Internally Displaced (IPDs) in December 2018.
“We also have the Gender Policy to take care of the needs of women in the electoral process and also recently created a Department of Gender and Inclusivity for the implementation of the gender policy in a coordinated manner.
Anambra Governorship Election 2021
“The Anambra Governorship election was held on 6th November 2021 under difficult circumstances. The Commission has declared a winner and the certificate of return has been issued. The election was peaceful and the outcome of the election has been universally adjudged to be credible.
“However, the Commission is not unaware of the issues raised about the performance of the new technology deployed for voter accreditation. The deployment of the
“BVAS in the Anambra Governorship election was the second pilot test. It was intended to achieve two objectives. First is voter accreditation to replace the Smart Card Reader. The second is the uploading of polling unit result on the IReV portal to replace the z-pad. The BVAS performed optimally in uploading results on the IReV but there were the usual challenges associated with the pilot of a new technology in a major election.
“From our assessment so far, much of the glitches encountered on Election Day in Anambra State had little to do with the machines but more with the operators of the system.
“The extraordinarily difficult circumstances under which the election was held meant that some of the better trained ad hoc staff withdrew at the 11th hour. Similarly, some critical service providers such vehicle owners also withdrew thereby severely affecting our plans for rapid response by our technicians – the Registration Area Technical (RATECH) staff.”
Technical issues relating to the performance of the BVAS will be addressed in the presentation by our Director ICT at this important meeting. Suffice it to say that in spite of the glitches, BVAS has justified our determination to deepen the deployment of technology in the electoral process.
Given the credible conclusion of the election, it has strengthened our belief that even the minimal introduction of technology in voter accreditation is better than the best manual process. We want to thank the voters in Anambra State for their patience and faith in the new technology. This has also justified the hope of citizens across the country that the deployment of more appropriate technology is essential to electoral integrity in Nigeria.
Our response to the glitches encountered started right from Anambra State. This explains there were no challenges reported during the supplementary election in Ihiala Local Government Area held on Tuesday 9th November 2022.
I want to reassure Nigerians that we have learnt vital lessons from the Anambra pilot. There will be remarkable improvement in the next major election which is the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) schedule to hold in three months on 12th February 2022.
News
Lawyers Drags NLS to Court for Alleged Election Fraud, Data Violation

Two Nigerian lawyers have sued promoters of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) over allegations of electoral fraud and unlawful use of personal data.
The legal actions follow the recent election conducted by the NLS, a breakaway association formed as an alternative to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), to elect its national officers.
In one of the suits, marked FHC/ABJ/05/1506/2025 and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, a lawyer, Timothy Tersugh Ahua, is challenging the conduct of the election and the legitimacy of the electoral process.
Ahua named several NLS promoters, including prominent lawyers, as defendants.
They include Senior Advocates, Chief Mela Audu Nunghe, Dr. Ugoji Eze, Secretary of the NLS Electoral Committee, and Chief Bolaji, Chairman of the NLS.
Others named in the suit are Ferguson Chioma Blessing, Chief Emeka Ichoku, and Tejumola Adigun.
Citing provisions of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, Ahua is asking the court to declare that the NLS electoral process violated its constitution.
He is seeking a declaration that all unopposed candidates, including himself, be declared elected, as published by Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, the alternate Chairman of the NLS Electoral Committee.
Ahua claims he was duly nominated for the position of Secretary General but was unjustly excluded, accusing the defendants of hand-picking candidates in breach of the rules.
He further alleged that the exclusion caused him financial loss, reputational damage, and personal hardship, urging the court to correct what he described as a grave injustice.
In a separate suit before the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, another lawyer, Oluwadare Thomas, sued Chief Mela Nunghe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Ugoji Eze, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), over alleged violation of his data privacy rights.
Thomas is asking the court to determine whether the use and publication of his personal data by NLS election officials without his consent amounts to a breach of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
He also wants the court to consider whether the use of the NLS name for the election, despite a CAC notice and a pending suit, constitutes contempt of court and abuse of legal process.
He is seeking several declaratory and injunctive reliefs, including a court order restraining the continued use of his personal data and an order compelling NITDA and NDPC to investigate and sanction the respondents.
Thomas is also demanding N50m in compensation for the alleged unlawful processing and exposure of his personal information.
News
NASRDA Celebrates Chief Owolabi Salis on His Historic Space Mission

The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has congratulated Chief Owolabi Salis on his successful space flight. He becomes the first person of Nigerian birth to travel to space.
Chief Salis privately funded his space mission, demonstrating the deep interest of Nigerians to participate in scientific, exploratory, tourism and commercial space activities. His achievement highlights new opportunities for private sector engagement in space Program.
This milestone brings significant international attention to Nigeria’s space program, capabilities, while positioning the nation among countries where citizens actively participate in space activities.
In a statement signed by Dr. Felix Ale, director, Media and Corporate Communications, NASRDA, stated that chief Salis’s successful mission represents one pathway for Nigerian space participation. “His achievement complements NASRDA’s ongoing efforts to expand access to space exploration for Nigerian citizens.
“NASRDA received notification of Chief Salis’s mission through our partner organization, Space Research and Exploration Agency (SERA), prior to the flight. His success demonstrates the expanding opportunities now available to Nigerians in the space sector.
“However, it must be emphasized that the NASRDA-SERA collaborative mission, announced in June 2024, remains on course for an upcoming Blue Origin flight. This program represents a different pathway, providing opportunities for broader Nigerian participation through open competition.
“Our collaborative mission will enable Nigerian citizens to participate in astronaut selection and contribute to the development of research proposals. Eligibility extends to all Nigerian citizens aged 18 and above through transparent, merit-based selection criteria.
“Research priorities for the NASRDA-SERA mission will also be determined through public input from Nigerian citizens. This approach ensures the mission addresses national priorities identified by Nigerian citizens,” the statement added.
The application portal for the NASRDA-SERA program will open in the coming weeks. Detailed application procedures will be announced prior to the portal’s activation.
NASRDA celebrates Chief Salis’s contribution to raising awareness about space exploration opportunities for Nigerians. His private investment demonstrates the practical commitment of Nigerian citizens to advancing our national space participation.
Chief Salis’s achievement marks a defining moment for Nigeria’s space ambitions. Nigeria now has both private citizens and government programs actively pursuing space exploration, positioning the nation as an active participant in the global space economy.
For additional information regarding NASRDA programs or the SERA collaborative mission, contact the agency’s Media and Corporate Communication Department.
News
NIA Questions Legality of Reps’ Financial Probe

The Nigerian Insurers Association has urged the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions to respect the constitutional separation of powers as it carries out a probe on over 20 insurance firms.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, said the decision of NIA and the affected firms to approach the court was to seek clarity on the constitutional limits of the House Committee’s probe.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives on Monday is investigating no fewer than 25 insurance companies operating in the country for various financial infractions spanning financial reporting, claims settlement, premium remittance, and issuance of policies.
The Chairman, House Sub-Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Kwamoti Laori, during a meeting with the management of the insurance companies at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, said the meeting was convened following the receipt of a petition on infractions by the insurance companies.
In the statement, Odukale said, “The Association wishes to state unequivocally that all actions taken by the NIA and the affected member companies in response to the Committee’s invitations and pronouncements were based entirely on legal advice by its Solicitors. It was on the firm instruction of legal counsel that recourse was made to the courts.
“The objective of approaching the Court is to seek judicial guidance on the legality, propriety, and constitutional limits of the Committee’s intervention in order to safeguard institutional integrity, uphold regulatory independence, and ensure that legislative oversight remains within the bounds of law.
“The Court action seeks to determine whether the current posture of the Committee reflects an exercise of legislative judgment, which, by constitutional design, is the exclusive province of statutory regulators, such as the National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Exchange, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the National Information Technology Development Agency.
“This raises serious questions about legislative overreach and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.”
Odukale maintained that the NIA was committed to lawful and constructive engagement with all arms of government, provided that such engagement respects the autonomy of statutory regulators and the boundaries established by the Constitution.
“The NIA will continue to provide its full support to all member companies while upholding the principles of legal compliance and sector-wide integrity,” Odukale concluded.
17 of the companies that went to court were represented by their lawyer, Mr Abimbola Kayode, at the meeting with the committee.
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