Contrary to recent insinuations by the Department of State Security, DSS, about the vulnerability of the database of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the chairman of the electoral body, Attahiru Jega, has assured Nigerians that the commission’s database cannot be hacked.

Speaking on a Channels Television programme, on Wednesday, stated that the commission had installed appropriate security features and that its database was not on the Internet, hence it could not be hacked as feared by the security agency.

“We feel very confident that our database cannot be hacked. This is because it is not on the network, and as far as I know, if you are not online, it is difficult for your database to be hacked. If our database is hacked, it means people in-house have compromised. But, we have security features to prevent this,” he said.

The INEC chairman also addressed the possibility of the usage of cloned cards during elections, insisting that INEC’s card reader cannot read cloned cards and that this would foil any attempts to present them during the forthcoming elections.

“A cloned card cannot be read by our card reader. Though, Nigerians are ingenious, they will try, but our card reader cannot read cloned cards. It is virtually impossible for anybody to clone our cards and use such to vote in February,” he said.

Jega also commented on recent calls for postponement of the elections, warning that such postponement could result in constitutional crisis.

I his call for a postponement on Thursday, however, the National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki has said that he consulted with the INEC chairman who agreed that a postponement would be desirebale.

Jega, however, distanced himself from that position, stating that the commission’s commitment to conducting elections as planned necessitated the recent provisions being made for internally displaced persons to participate in the forthcoming elections.

The DSS had on January 8 accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, of an elaborate plot to hack into the voters’ registration data base of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Speaking at a press conference, the security agency’s spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, had alleged that the purpose was to clone voters and party membership cards to match those in the data base.