Telecommunications Raises Hope For 2027 Elections

Post created on 2:53 pm

The major telecommunications companies in Nigeria have confirmed that real electronic transmission of election results is possible during the 2027 election, as 5G is available, unlike in 2019 when 2G was dominant.

Working with the telecommunications companies, the Independent National Electoral Commission added that 93 percent of polling units across the nation have mobile network coverage.

This conclusion was drawn during a joint technical assessment with the Nigerian Communications Commission and major telecom operators; however, a large portion of it remains paper-based.

The NCC further clarified the difference between electronic transmission and the INEC Result Viewing portal. The portal allows scanned polling unit result sheets to be uploaded for public viewing, while electronic transmission involves the electronic collation of those results to determine the outcome of the election.

Furthermore, on INEC’s part, links to challenges experienced with the Smart Card Reader, unable to transmit results, were rejected as it clarifies that the SCR is not used for results transmission and is not fully permanently connected to any data network.