The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) has advised Nigerians not reach conclusions on the methods being adopted for elections on the basis of media headlines.
INEC accused some media of having misinterpreted the recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections.
In a statement today, August 21, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of the Commission, Festus Okoye, said that the interpretation given to the contents of the press interview on result management procedure to the effect that the Commission has jettisoned the electronic transmission of result and reverted to the manual process 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.
“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.
“We appeal to all Nigerians to avail themselves of the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Commission’s detailed explanation of the procedure.”