INEC's Festus Okoye on 2023 Election Result Failures

Festus Okoye, a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), provided insights into the technological failures that affected the uploading of the 2023 presidential election results. During an interview, he stated that the commission's platforms faced cyberattacks, which contributed to the issues.

Okoye noted that while the uploading of legislative election results proceeded without problems, the presidential results faced significant challenges. He explained that in at least 80% of locations where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was deployed, the only issue encountered was with the presidential election results.

On election day, Okoye recounted an internal crisis at INEC headquarters, where technical assurances quickly deteriorated, leading to delays in result uploads. He confirmed that external actors targeted the system but insisted that the primary issue was a fundamental technological malfunction.

Okoye concluded that the technology ultimately failed to perform as expected, which he communicated to the public.