The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye has insisted that INEC RESULT VIEWING (IReV) does not connote electronic transmission of results that would go to a server.
INEC on Thursday introduced a dedicated public portal, IReV that will enable Nigerians to view Polling Unit results real time as the voting ends on Election Day.
According to the Commission, this move is to further strengthen the transparency in the election result management system which has remained a major source of mistrust in Nigeria’s electoral process.
INEC however, emphasized that the IReV does not constitute electronic collation of results as the collation of election results shall remain as provided for by law; a manual process of completion of relevant result sheets and their upwards collation until the final results are determined.
The Commission said the innovation will commence from the Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election in Nasarawa State scheduled for Saturday 8th August 2020, after which it will be extended to the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections as well as all subsequent elections.
It expressed hope that the innovation would improve the transparency in election result management and further consolidate public confidence in the electoral process.
But responding to concerns on the innovation, Okoye told BusinessDay exclusively that the uploaded result is to go to a portal where it can be viewed by the public.
According to him: “INEC is doing it now to further strengthen its election management process and enhance transparency of the System.
“The collation of results from the polling units to the Registration Area Collation Centers will be done manually and in accordance with existing law and the Commissions Regulations and Guidelines.
“The iRev falls within the ambit of Form EC60 E that is displayed at the polling units. The Commission is just uploading the form 60E series that are posted at the polling Units after elections for public view”.
