INEC Restates Position On Electronic Transmission Of Election Results

By Frank Oshanugor

Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has restated its commitment to electronic transmission of results in the 2023 general elections.

In a statement on Sunday, the Commission’s Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye said the procedure for result transmission remains the same as in recent Governorship Election in Ekiti and Osun States, stressing that there would be no change in future elections even the 2023 general elections.

According to the statement “the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) attention has been drawn to a misunderstanding arising from a recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections. Some have interpreted the explanation on result management procedure to mean that the Commission has jettisoned the electronic transmission of result and reverted to the manual process. This is not correct.”

The spokesman said that ‘for clarity, the procedure for result transmission remains the same as in recent Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. There will be no change in all future elections, including the 2023 General Election.

“We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of result has come to stay. It adds to the credibility and transparency of the process when citizens follow polling unit level results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on real-time on Election Day.

There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections.” The statement added that “the entire gamut of result management is provided for in Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022. In line with the provision of the law, the Commission,

in April this year, released a detailed clarification of the procedure for transmission, collation and declaration of result which was shared with all stakeholders and uploaded to our website.

“We appeal to all Nigerians to avail themselves of the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Commission’s detailed explanation of the procedure

and not reach a conclusion on the basis of media headlines.”