Alleged attempt to hack into INEC’s server should be investigated – Falana

A Lagos-based human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, called for an immediate investigation into the allegation that there were attempts by suspected hackers to break into the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

This position was made known by the senior lawyer during an exclusive telephone chat with the  New Telegraph.

 

Falana, who was reacting to the concerns raised by the National Agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye, at the National Collation Centre, Abuja, for both the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday, argued that: “If the excuse now is that there are alleged moves by suspected hackers to hack their (INEC) server, it should then be properly investigated.”

According to the SAN, all grievances should be taken to the Election Petition Tribunal for redress. The INEC boss, Mahmood Yakubu had previously raised the alarm that the Commission’s database was being attacked by foreign hackers.

 

Speaking at the 2022 National Conference of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), in January in Abuja, Yakubu, who was represented by the Deputy Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode had said the attacks were from different parts of the world and not just Nigeria.

Bayode said: “We were looking at the system yesterday, and we were seeing that people were trying to come into the system from France, but we are also putting some things in place.

“You can’t build a house, and you will not put a door, window, or burglary; we have done our best to ensure that our system is secured.” He assured that the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) system were now well-secured to make it difficult to beat.

 

It would be recalled Professor Yakubu had, in September 2022, revealed how hackers from Asia launched cyber-attacks several times on the Commission’s portal during the Ekiti/Osun governorship election but were conquered. The INEC boss had also maintained that the hackers aimed to gain access and compromise authentic election results.