The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reiterated its commitment to enhancing the transparency and credibility of elections in Nigeria through the deployment of technology.
This is as the election umpire assured Nigerians that the electronic transmission of election results has come to stay.
The commission, in a recent interview, had said the 2023 election results would be collated manually.
The report had sparked mixed reactions from Nigerians with regard to the electronic transmission of results.
In a statement on Sunday, Festus Okoye, INEC commissioner for information and voter education, said some persons interpreted the interview to mean that the commission has dropped the electronic transmission of results and reverted to the manual process.
“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,” the statement reads.
“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 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 and not reach a conclusion on the basis of media headlines.”