There have been various online speculations and insinuations regarding the method of election result transmission. One such claim suggests that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) might not transmit election results electronically. How true is this claim? CDD War Room gives details of Nigeria’s electoral process and method of election results transmission as well as collation of results.
Nigeria’s Electoral Process
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was established in accordance with section 153(f) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The functions of the Commission are stipulated in Part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution. The Commission is responsible for conducting elections in Nigeria and wields various powers, just as it is mandated to carry out a range of responsibilities detailed in the constitution and the Electoral Act. One of its key roles is the supervision of elections and ensuring they are free, fair and reflective of the democratic aspirations of voters.
In line with its constitutional mandate, the National Assembly passed the Electoral Act, 2022, which became law in February 2022. This law gives INEC the discretion to determine and decide its guidelines. In exercising this discretion, INEC introduced Clause 38 in its regulations, enabling the electronic transmission of election results.
Under Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act, it is specified that the presiding officer at the polling unit, after counting votes and declaring the results, should transmit these results in accordance with INEC’s directives. Failure to comply with INEC’s directives regarding the manner of transmission can result in sanctions for the presiding officer. In essence, the introduction of electronic transmission of election results through Clause 38 is a step taken by INEC to ensure more efficient and transparent election processes in accordance with the powers and discretion granted to it under the Electoral Act. Therefore INEC has assured Nigerians that it would ensure results are transmitted electronically during the off cycle polls of November 11, 2023.
Collation process
It is however pertinent to add that while the transmission of election results is done for the public to track the credibility of Nigeria’s elections, collation is done manually.
Here’s a break down of the collation process.
After voting is concluded, the Presiding Officer is responsible for counting the votes and filling out the Result Form (EC8A), in accordance with Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act. Results are then announced at the polling unit, as stipulated in Section 65 of the Electoral Act, and a copy of the result is pasted and uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) for public viewing. The next step involves the transmission of results to the local government collation centers. Section 60(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act provides guidelines for this process. It often involves the use of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), as mentioned in Section 60(5). At the local government level, the Local Government Collation Officer receives the results from various polling units and compiles them, filling out Form EC8B, following the provisions of Section 65 of the Electoral Act. The collation process continues until all results from the local government areas are compiled.
The final stage takes place at the state collation center, as guided by Section 60(1), (2), and (5) of the Electoral Act. Here, results from all local government areas within the state are combined and aggregated to determine the winner of the governorship election. This final collation process aims to ensure accuracy and transparency in the election outcome, in line with Section 60(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act and the practical instructions provided in the Electoral Guidelines of 2023.
Conclusion
The use of the BVAS and IReV were part of INEC’s electoral guidelines. The electoral act however gave INEC powers to choose what process can be employed to transmit results which was what section Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act states. While electronic transmission of results provides an additional layer of transparency in elections, the results collation process happens from the ward level to the LGA and then to the State level where the totals are computed and winner declared.