INEC Rules Out Electronic Transmission Of Kogi, Bayelsa Guber Polls Results
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the possibility of transmitting the forthcoming Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections results electronically.
This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in an interview with The Guardian in Abuja, yesterday.
“The commission will not transmit results of the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections electronically because the law as we have it today does not allow it,” Oyekanmi stated.
He said the Commission would employ existing process of manual transmission of results.
The revelation came on the heels of the raging controversy surrounding the existence of an INEC server, and the claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the results of 2019 general elections were transmitted electronically.
INEC however, denied the claim, saying it does not have a server where results were transmitted.
Though governorship polls in both states have been slated for November 16, 2019, Oyekanmi said logistics had not been put in place for the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He said: “The Commission will meet and take a decision on the commencement date for the next round of the CVR exercise, not only in Kogi and Bayelsa states, but also the entire country.
“As you may be aware, the necessary equipment for the smooth take off of the CVR have to be provided and a provision has to be made in the budget. But PVCs can be collected at the voter’s convenience even now and we encourage those who have not collected their PVCs to please do so.”
On the budget of the Commission for the polls, Oyekanmi said INEC could not give a specific amount it would spend due to certain events that might occur during and after elections.He stated that aside end-of-tenure elections that are fairly certain, there could also be by-elections at anytime.
“The courts can, in fact, annul results of an election at anytime too and order INEC to conduct a re-run. It is thus difficult to estimate exactly how much INEC will spend on the totality of elections in one year,” he added.
Oyekanmi further pointed that the Commission learnt some lessons during the last governorship election held in Bayelsa in 2015 and the recently concluded 2019 general elections.
He said though INEC had been holding series of meetings with various stakeholders to review the polls, the commission would draw on past experiences to prepare well for the forthcoming election.
( Guardian)
This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in an interview with The Guardian in Abuja, yesterday.
“The commission will not transmit results of the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections electronically because the law as we have it today does not allow it,” Oyekanmi stated.
He said the Commission would employ existing process of manual transmission of results.
The revelation came on the heels of the raging controversy surrounding the existence of an INEC server, and the claim by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the results of 2019 general elections were transmitted electronically.
INEC however, denied the claim, saying it does not have a server where results were transmitted.
Though governorship polls in both states have been slated for November 16, 2019, Oyekanmi said logistics had not been put in place for the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He said: “The Commission will meet and take a decision on the commencement date for the next round of the CVR exercise, not only in Kogi and Bayelsa states, but also the entire country.
“As you may be aware, the necessary equipment for the smooth take off of the CVR have to be provided and a provision has to be made in the budget. But PVCs can be collected at the voter’s convenience even now and we encourage those who have not collected their PVCs to please do so.”
On the budget of the Commission for the polls, Oyekanmi said INEC could not give a specific amount it would spend due to certain events that might occur during and after elections.He stated that aside end-of-tenure elections that are fairly certain, there could also be by-elections at anytime.
“The courts can, in fact, annul results of an election at anytime too and order INEC to conduct a re-run. It is thus difficult to estimate exactly how much INEC will spend on the totality of elections in one year,” he added.
Oyekanmi further pointed that the Commission learnt some lessons during the last governorship election held in Bayelsa in 2015 and the recently concluded 2019 general elections.
He said though INEC had been holding series of meetings with various stakeholders to review the polls, the commission would draw on past experiences to prepare well for the forthcoming election.
( Guardian)
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