Isiyaku Ahmed
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved the introduction of a new step to further strengthen its election management process and enhance transparency of the system.
This was contained in a press release signed on 6th August, 2020 by Festus Okoye Esq, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.
According to the statement, INEC is determined to address any source of mistrust in its electoral process through enhancing the level of transparency in the conduct of elections, more so in the process of releasing results of elections.
In the statement, Okoye recalled that consistent with its commitment to transparency in election management, the commission introduced the Form EC60E, which was a poster version of the primary result sheet, the Form EC8A.
“This replica of the polling unit result is pasted at the polling units after votes are counted, recorded, and announced. “This poster, now widely known as the People’s Form EC8A, has increased transparency in result management.
“The form enables the citizens to photograph the results and project the outcome of elections, even before the final results are announced. “Unfortunately, this has also led to abuses, as unofficial and at times false results are known to have been circulated, particularly via social media, causing tension and casting aspersions on the final outcome of elections” he added.
To further strengthen transparency in the electoral result management system, the Commission has decided to introduce a dedicated public portal, the “INEC RESULT VIEWING (IReV)”, that will enable Nigerians to view polling unit results real time as voting ends on Election Day.
The statement further said, the system does not constitute electronic collation of results. The collation of election results shall remain as provided for by law, a manual process of compilation of relevant result sheets and their upwards collation until the final results are determined.
The innovation will commence from Nassarawa Central State Constituency bye-election in Nassarawa State scheduled for Saturday 8th August, 2020. Thereafter, it will be extended to Ondo Gubernatorial elections as well as subsequent elections.
It is hope that the innovation would improve the transparency in election result management and therefore further consolidate public confidence in the electoral process.
For the Nassarawa Central State Constituency election, the Result Sheet can be accessed thus:
Visit https://inecelectionresults.com click on “Create new Account”
Fill in your details in the form provided and click on “Sign in”
Provide your State of Origin and click on “Continue”
An account activation email will be sent to your email address
Check your email and correctly copy out the activation code which will be entered into the textbox provided on the portal, Click on “Activate”, this logs you into the portal and you can select the election whose polling unit results you are interested in viewing
You can also use the filter button to make the search easier and please remember to log out of the portal after use.
The statement called on the public to make judicious use of the facility while it looks forward to continuing to work with stakeholders to improve the quality of electoral services in Nigeria.
