Ezra Chiloba, chief executive officer at IEBC[. Photo/ Capitalfm]The errors witnessed during the August 8 election could not have amounted to a nullification of presidential results, IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba has said.
Mr Chiloba said on Wednesday that the massive clerical errors pointed out in the results declaration forms, were unavoidable in a massive logistical undertaking like the General Election.
“Those places that sent in text results without the forms, it was not intentional. In 2013, 46 per cent of the stations failed to send text data. In 2017, there was a 100 per cent of that. All we need to do now is ensure that we get 100 per cent transmission of the forms as well,” Mr Chiloba said.
According to Mr Chiloba, the commission had picked up some apparent gaps from the first ruling even before the court’s detailed judgment is out that he believes should not have been used to invalidate the declaration of the results.
The IEBC boss argued that failures identified by the Supreme Court in its September 1 verdict overlooked the success obtained by the commission in this year’s general election.
“We mounted a process incomparable with others in the world. We did our best. We deployed resources in a way that could help us ensure a credible election,” he added.
The National Super Alliance (NASA) has affirmed that Mr Chiloba should step aside alongside other IEBC officials who they believe facilitated electoral malpractice at the commission.
Even with the NASA demands, Mr Chiloba said he was not going to resign.
“Whether me being there or not. They have a bigger challenge whether the country will be ready to conduct an election to the standards of the Supreme Court. And if we continue this way, then most likely we might not get there,” he said.
The IEBC CEO urged those dissatisfied by his presence at the commission to change mind to the “greater interest of the country that goes beyond Chiloba.”
Mr Chiloba was speaking on a live interview at NTV.