‘Electronic collection of results illegal, says INEC ahead of elections in Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that electronic results aggregation is still prohibited in Nigeria, ahead of the off-cycle elections in the states of Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo.

In response to remarks and suggestions made by certain Nigerians that the polls scheduled for Saturday in the states of Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa would be conducted electronically, INEC made this announcement.
However, principal press secretary to INEC chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi made it clear that neither the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) nor the result viewing webpage were intended for use in tallying votes or declaring a winner.

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“After polls close and results are declared at that level, the presiding officers will upload the polling unit election results, also known as Form EC8As, directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal from the individual PUs,” Oyekanmi clarified.

He went on, “After all procedures at the various polling places are finished, presiding officers are expected to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to snap the Form EC8A and upload the same to the IReV.

People must realize, therefore, that neither the BVAS nor the IReV are electronic voting machines, nor are they used for compiling election results or selecting a winner.

Indeed, at the time, computerized voting and result aggregation are prohibited in Nigeria. The public can only view the Form EC8A uploaded from the polling units through the IReV portal.

“Section 179 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution encapsulates the procedure for selecting and announcing the victor of a gubernatorial election.”