INEC has confirmed that the Commission has the capacity to transmit result real time from all parts of the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Festus Okoye has confirmed that the Commission has the capacity to transmit result real time from all parts of the country.
The House of Representatives on Friday passed its own version of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, amid a walkout staged by opposition members, with the controversial Clause 52(2) intact, adding that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “may transmit results of the election through electronic means where and when practicable”.
Similarly, the Senate has also passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which requires the Independent National Electoral Commission to seek clearance from the Nigerian National Communication Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly before deploying electronic transmission of election results in any area.
Okoye said this while speaking as a guest on Channel TV’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
Okoye said that over the years INEC has tested and ran different forms of technological and electronic additions to improve the integrity of the elections and they have been successful.
He revealed to the presenters that elections have already been transmitted and even stored on INEC servers from many zones of the country even in a state like Borno in the midst of security challenges.
He added that INEC is ready and capable to ensure that it can transmit results and all that is required is the endorsement of the law to further make the process better.
On electronic voting, he said the Commission is piloting electronic voting machines will also have a paper trail which will be used for audit.
Okoye said, “We have uploaded results from very remote areas, even from areas where you have to use human carriers to access,” he said.
“So, we have made our own position very clear, that we have the capacity and we have the will to deepen the use of technology in the electoral process.
“But our powers are given by the constitution and the law, and we will continue to remain within the ambit and confines of the power granted to the commission by the constitution and the law.”
He appealed to the National Assembly not to write into the law any electronic device, instead, he wants INEC given powers to deploy any technological device for the betterment of the election.
Okoye said the results are not transmitted into one central portal, but segmentalized, stating further that INEC wants to bridge the gap between polling booths and collation centres.
He said people should habour no fear about the processes of INEC.
He said the debate should be about national interest and not personal interest and all INEC wants to do is to use technology to reduce human interference in elections.
