The era of manual transmission of election results is gone for good, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said yesterday.
The electronic transmission of poll results, the electoral umpire said, has come to stay.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, clarified the position in a statement in Abuja.
In the statement titled: “Clarification on Electronic Transmission of Election Result,” Okoye said that electronic transmission of results would be deployed for the 2023 general elections.
He said the clarification became necessary following a misunderstanding of his position on the procedure for result management during elections.
Okoye said some people had interpreted the explanation to mean that the commission had jettisoned the electronic transmission of results and reverted to the manual process.
The INEC spokesman said: “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 elections.
“We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of results 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 in real-time on Election Day.
“There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections.”
The National Assembly passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and approved the electronic transmission of results last November 9.
Okoye said INEC was determined to now adopt an electronic system for the conduct of future elections.
He said: “Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022 have provided for election results management”.
He said in line with the provision of the law, the commission, in April, released a detailed clarification of the procedure for transmission, collation and declaration of results which was shared with all stakeholders and uploaded on the INEC website.
Okoye appealed 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 based on media headlines.
