2023: INEC Insists On Electronic Transmission Of Results, Says Manual Process Dead

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the likelihood of reverting to manual process in the transmission of election results in the 2023 General Election.

Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, made the clarification following the wrong interpretation of an interview he granted regarding how election results would be managed in 2023.

“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,” Okoye clarified.

“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 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,” he said.

Okoye advised that as the nation moves closer to the 2023 General Election, it would be beneficial if the citizens “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.”

Meanwhile, THE WHISTLER reported that a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had last week advised INEC to improve the nation’s electoral system by building on the capability of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Chidoka said the electronic accreditation device should function so that it could “automatically collate the Polling Unit results for the ward level and Print copies for validation and signing by ward Agents of the political parties. That will ensure that the result at the backend of the BVAS is consistent with the results on the BVAS tablets. This is key for post-election issues.”