According to the ex-chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, it’s highly possible to hack into the electoral commission’s database.
He made this statement while discussing election-related matters with Trust TV and concerns about INEC’s readiness for the Saturday elections.
Commenting on the effectiveness of BVAS, the former INEC chairman commended the level of preparedness by the electoral body, but said he could not guarantee that the commission’s database can’t be hacked.
Jega said: “You see, in this modern age, nobody can give you 100 per cent assurance that a database cannot be hacked, unless the database is not online.
“In 2015, when we did the elections, our database wasn’t online. But now, particularly because there’s the issue of electronic transmission of results, it has to be online.
“But all over the world, databases are used and they are relatively safe to be used because people now deploy effective cyber-security systems.”
He added that INEC had confirmed employing excellent cyber security for their databases.
“And INEC had said consistently, that knowing the political terrain, they have also got the best cyber security for the databases that they have. And we have to believe that they’ve done their best.
“It doesn’t mean it will be 100 per cent secure, but I know that whoever uses a database, also uses a security alternative which virtually nobody knows,” he said.
