Osun election: INEC explains IReV delay, says uploads stalled for two hours

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained the temporary delay in uploading polling-unit results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during the recently concluded Osun State governorship election.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, said the interruption lasted about two hours, rather than the three hours reported by some observer groups. He attributed the delay to connectivity challenges and discrepancies between result sheets submitted for upload and accreditation data generated by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Monday, Oketola said, “There was a lull of about two hours—not three hours.”

He explained that poor network connectivity could affect the transmission of results, requiring officials to move to ward collation centres to complete the process.

“When results are uploaded from polling units, connectivity gaps can occur, even in major cities. If uploads fail due to network coverage, officials must move to the ward collation centres to complete the transmission,” he said.

Oketola added that IReV could temporarily flag a result where the figures on an uploaded result sheet did not correspond with the accreditation data generated by BVAS.

“If an uploaded result sheet does not match the accreditation data generated by the BVAS, the IReV system temporarily flags it,” he explained.

According to him, technical officers, known as RATECHs, are responsible for reviewing and resolving such discrepancies before the affected results can be successfully uploaded.

“Technical officers (RATECHs) then review and resolve these discrepancies before the upload completes,” Oketola said.

His comments came amid concerns over the pace of result uploads during the Osun election, particularly following reports by observer groups about a prolonged lull in the transmission process.

Oketola, however, maintained that INEC remained the authoritative source of official election data, despite the different methodologies used by observer organisations.

“While observer groups are key partners, INEC remains the authentic source of election data,” he said.

He also stressed the role of technology in securing election results, explaining that once polling-unit results were successfully uploaded to IReV, the votes were protected.

“With the BVAS in place, the number of accredited voters must correspond directly with the votes cast from that polling unit. Once successfully uploaded to IReV, those votes are secured,” he said.

The Osun governorship election was won by Accord Party candidate and incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, who secured 511,067 votes. His closest challenger, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes.

Oketola said recent off-cycle elections would serve as useful tests of INEC’s preparedness ahead of the 2027 general elections, while urging political parties, security agencies and other stakeholders to cooperate with the commission.

He also called on Nigerians to trust the electoral process, stressing that technology would continue to play an important role in ensuring votes are properly accredited, recorded and transmitted.