Contrary to rumours circulating, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asserts that it has not abandoned the electronic transmission of election results.
Festus Okoye, the commission's spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday that INEC is not considering going back to the manual method of transmitting results.
In a succinct statement titled "Clarification On Electronic Transmission Of Election Result," Mr. Okoye claimed that the recent brief interview he gave to a national newspaper on the process for managing election results was to blame for the confusion over the method used to transmit election results electronically.
According to him, “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 INEC spokesman declared.
He added, “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”.
Nigerians were reassured by the INEC Commissioner that electronic result transmission was here to stay. When voters observe polling unit level results in real-time on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on Election Day, this strategy further increases the legitimacy and transparency of the election process.
“There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections,” Mr Okoye assured Nigerians.
“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”.
On behalf of the Commission, Okoye, who also serves as Chairman of INEC's Information and Voter Education Committee, urged all Nigerians to make use of the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Commission's thorough explanation of the process rather than making decisions based on media headlines.