The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that the electronic transmission of results has come to stay.
INEC said this in reaction to the reports making the round, stating that there would be manual collation of election results in 2023.
In a statement on Sunday, spokesman to the commission, Festus Okoye, said INEC is not contemplating to revert to the manual process of result transmission.
In a brief communique titled “Clarification On Electronic Transmission Of Election Result”, Mr Okoye said the confusion regarding what method has been adopted stems from a recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections.
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. 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,” he added.
The INEC Commissioner reassured Nigerians that the electronic transmission of result has come to stay, adding that this method further boosts the credibility and transparency of the electoral 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 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.”
Okoye, who doubles as Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, on behalf of the Commission appealed to 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.