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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked reports that it plans to transit in “real time” the results of the February 21 FCT Area Council elections.
This is contained in a Wednesday statement signed by Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola.
This followed a remark credited to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan after recent inspection of election readiness across the Kuje, Gwagwalada, and Bwari Area Councils.
Oketola noted that the INEC boss confirmed that technology remains central to the upcoming polls but did not use the phrase “real-time” during his engagements with the media.
He stated that the term implies a live, simultaneous feed of votes as they are being cast – a method that is neither supported by the current legal framework nor the commission’s operational guidelines.
On the specific nature of the chairman’s remarks, Oketola explained that Amupitan was responding to inquiries regarding INEC’s technological experiments.
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He reportedly emphasised that the protocol for electronic transmission is already a settled matter, having been in consistent use since 2022.
“Since 2022, INEC has been transmitting results. We have the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, and BVAS is capable of accrediting and also uploading and transmitting the results. So definitely, the results will be transmitted,” Amupitan reportedly stated during the inspection.
He highlighted the sequence of events required by the Electoral Act and INEC Regulations before any electronic transmission occurs.
It maintained that the electronic upload of scanned Polling Unit results (Form EC8A) to the IReV portal only takes place after the conclusion of voting, the manual counting of ballots, and the formal signing of result sheets by party agents.
Oketola stressed the sensitivity of election technology in the current national discourse, urging media practitioners to exercise meticulous care in their reportage.
He warned that misquoting technical procedures could trigger “unnecessary public agitation and misinformation.”
