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Lawrence Bayode, the Deputy Director in charge of technology at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), made a significant revelation under oath during his appearance before the presidential election petitions tribunal in Abuja.
Mr. Bayode stated that the cloud servers responsible for managing the transmission of presidential election results had experienced a crash on the day of the election, THE NATION reports.
This admission raised concerns among the opposition, who have been persistently questioning the integrity of the election process.
However, Mr. Bayode was quick to clarify that the server failure was not directly linked to any manipulation of the election results. Unfortunately, he did not elaborate on how he was able to be confident in this assertion, which contradicted the ongoing outcry from the opposition. The lack of transparency surrounding the issue only fueled the opposition’ s skepticism and reinforced their belief that INEC failed to transmit the election results accurately.
INEC’ s legal counsel, A. B. Mahmoud, called Mr. Bayode to the witness stand with the intention of presenting certified election documents to the tribunal. It was expected that this would shed light on the controversy surrounding the transmission of election results.
However, Mr. Bayode’ s testimony only added further confusion. He informed the court that INEC had announced three days prior to the election that results would not be distributed electronically. This statement directly contradicted the widely documented position of the electoral office, which had indicated that results would be shared electronically in accordance with the latest amendments to the electoral law.
The petitioner, Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People’ s Democratic Party (PDP), saw Mr. Bayode’ s confirmation of a server glitch as a crucial corroboration of his claims that INEC did not transmit the election results properly. This revelation aligned with his contention that the election was marred by irregularities and electoral malpractice.
The appearance of Lawrence Bayode before the tribunal came after Atiku Abubakar had concluded presenting his case the previous week. The tribunal had become a battleground for the opposition, as they sought to challenge the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election. The cloud server failure, as acknowledged by Bayode, only added fuel to the fire of their allegations.
As the trial continued, the credibility of INEC was called into question. The lack of clarity surrounding the server glitch, the contradictory statements made by INEC officials, and the persistent claims of irregularities raised doubts about the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
The opposition demanded a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that the truth regarding the transmission of election results was uncovered.
The controversy surrounding the cloud server crash and its potential impact on the election results intensified the political tensions in the country. It highlighted the need for a more robust and transparent electoral system that could withstand such technical glitches.
The outcome of the tribunal’ s proceedings would undoubtedly have far- reaching implications for the future of Nigerian democracy and the public’ s trust in the electoral process.
In conclusion, Lawrence Bayode’ s admission of a cloud server crash responsible for managing the transmission of presidential election results added another layer of complexity to the ongoing election petitions tribunal.
SOURCE: THE NATION
AuthorTwins (
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