FCT poll: Transmit results electronically, group tells INEC

The Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Development Awareness (CESDA), a civil society organisation (CSO) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit Saturday’s FCT area council election results electronically.

The Executive Director of the centre, Mr. Olushola Babalola, said on Friday in Abuja at a press conference that electronic transmission of results would enhance the confidence of political parties, contestants and the public in the accuracy of the official results.

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He also urged the residents to come out and vote so as to ensure the election reflects the will of the people.

He said that INEC must live up to its mandate by ensuring a free and transparent election through the deployment of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), upload of election results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) as well as other technologies.

He also said the organisation would deploy 100 citizen observers including observers across the 62 wards of the area councils, with at least one observer to monitor the elections in each of the wards in the area councils.

“The FCT election is the only local elections to be conducted by the INEC and it will be the first election to be conducted by INEC within the context of progressive reforms that are revolutionizing the administration of elections in the country.

“Whilst we commend the commission for the gradual introduction of technologies in our elections, the commission must address the technology and capacity gaps observed in the deployment of the newly introduced BVAS in the Anambra elections, as anything short of that will be a rollback from the mileage that the commission has achieved in recent past.

“CESDA will share its preliminary findings on the conduct of accreditation, voting and counting with the media. This preliminary statement will contain detailed information on every phase of the Election Day process,” Babalola said.

He noted that the Election Day would witness long time for voters who will spend hours at the polling units (PUs) queuing for accreditation and voting, thus the likelihood of heat and tempers may rise.

“We therefore urge the electorate to remain calm even in the face of challenges. In the interest of transparency and accountability, we urge INEC to live up to its billing by ensuring that all results are transmitted electronically to its central portal. Doing this would enhance the confidence of political parties, contestants and the public in the accuracy of the official results,” he said.