2023 Polls: INEC denies settling for manual collation, says no going back on electronic transmission of results

The Independent National Electoral Commission has cleared the air on the alleged manual transmissions of election results.

Clearing the air on an interview concerning the collation of results, the National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, noted that the electronic transmission of results remained the same.

This was contained in a statement titled, ‘Clarification On Electronic Transmission Of Election Result’ made available to newsmen on Sunday.

The statement read, “The Independent National Electoral Commission’s attention has been drawn to a misunderstanding arising from a recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections.

“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.

“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 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 in SectIons 60, 62 and 61 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 declaratAn 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.”