By Bosede Olusola-Obasa

A week after the National Assembly election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the results are yet to be posted on the commission’s web site.


INEC conducted the election in most parts of the country on April 9, and as at April 14, visitors to www.inecnigeria.org were still unable to view the comprehensive results of the election on the site.


When SATURDAY PUNCH visited the site on Friday, it was observed that the last post on the bottom right hand side was tagged: Latest News. It was dated April 9.


The news included the list of the House of Representatives and senatorial candidates; list of presidential and governorship candidates and the statement of Prof. Attahiru Jega on the Suleja, Niger State bomb blast on the eve of the NASS election.


Visitors to the site expressed disappointment that they only saw stale items on the home page, especially with the expectation that INEC should be ready to conduct a digital election in the near future.


The visitors had expected to find all the necessary updates about last Saturday’s election on the web site.


The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, reacted to the disappointment expressed by visitors to the site in a telephone interview with SATURDAY PUNCH on Friday.


Though not sounding assuring, he said, “The comprehensive results of the NASS election would likely be on the web site today.”


Idowu explained that the delay was informed by the need for the commission to be thorough.


He said that INEC could not afford to upload wrong results on the web site, hence the need to be painstaking.


“It is important to have the results on the web site, but we are taking time to cross-check all the figures so that we do not upload errors on the web site.”


But random checks by SATURDAY PUNCH show that this trend is common with most of the web sites hosted by public institutions.


Visitors to the sites are usually treated to stale items on the home page.


This is in spite of the fact that many of them have information technology personnel, supposedly charged with the responsibility of updating the sites regularly.


The information on its site describes INEC as the main agent of democracy in Nigeria.


“It is a permanent body created by the constitution to organise federal and state elections in Nigeria. It’s mission statement as seen on the web site is to educate Nigerian citizens about democracy and the election process; provide for voter registration; compile a credible voter register; demarcate constituency boundaries; organise and conduct credible elections; monitor the conduct of political parties; audit the finances of political parties and promote an enduring democratic culture in Nigeria,” it added.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110416254417

When will it be posted? Before Christmas, I hope?