‘Electronic collation of results illegal’ — INEC declares ahead of Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi elections

Ahead of the off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that electronic collation of results remains illegal in Nigeria.

INEC disclosed this while reacting to comments and insinuations by some Nigerians that Saturday’s elections Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa states would be transmitted electronically.

But chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, clarified that the result viewing portal was not for collating election results or determining the winner; neither was the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) an electronic voting machine.

“Polling unit election results, also known as Form EC8As, will be uploaded directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal from the individual PUs by the presiding officers after the close of poll and declaration of results at that level,” Oyekanmi explained.

He continued: “Presiding Officers are expected to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to snap the Form EC8A and upload the same to the IReV after the conclusion of all processes at the various polling units.

“However, people need to understand that the IReV is not for collating election results or determining the winner, while the BVAS is also not an electronic voting machine.

“To be sure, electronic voting or collation of results is illegal in Nigeria at the moment. All that the IReV portal does is just to display the Form EC8A uploaded from the polling units for the public to see.

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“The process for determining and declaring the winner of a governorship election is well encapsulated in section 179 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”