INEC under pressure to e-transfer gov election results

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come under pressure to electronically transmit results of March 11 governorship and house of assembly elections after voting.

The ability to do this after the presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25 largely accounted for the controversy surrounding the outcome of the poll.

Already, INEC has been ordered by a federal high court in Lagos to electronically transmit results of the governorship and house of assembly elections in the state immediately after voting.

Agents of some political parties had staged a walkout at the national collation centre in Abuja, while INEC boss was receiving and declaring results of the presidential election from the states’ electoral officers. They insisted that the results coming from the states must be transferred to the server of the commission before the announcement.

Reports by local and international observers of the last elections identified the non-transfer of the poll results electronically as the sore point that robbed INEC of the expected success.

Eight days after the conduct of the presidential poll, not all the results have been transferred to the server.

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The high court order was issued on Friday by Peter Lifu, the presiding judge.

The judge mandated the electoral body to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to INEC’s result viewing portal (IReV).

According to the judge, the results must be uploaded immediately after the completion of voting in all polling units, adding that the results sheet should be pasted in each PU after voting in the state.

The judge also issued a mandamus order mandating INEC to enforce Section 27(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 in the distribution of election materials by hiring impartial, qualified, and dependable logistic companies that are not partisan.

Lifu made the orders while ruling on a motion ex-parte marked: FHC/L/CS/370/2023.

The motion was filed by the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, its governorship candidate in Lagos, and 37 others.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, too has been talking tough to put his workers in check ahead of the March 11 elections.

Just yesterday, he declared in Abuja at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), “As we approach the governorship and state assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians.

“All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections. RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.”

He said REC would be held liable for any tardiness in a particular state.

“Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly, with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally,” Yakubu said.