Bolaji Aluko, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, has lectured political parties and gladiators waiting for INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal for collation of election results that they must be joking and not ready for prime time.
Aluko disclosed this in a statement titled ‘My Views on BVAS, IREV and the 2023 Presidential and NASS Election Results’.
In the statement, he said: “Let me repeat what I have stated several times now: All political parties worth their salt – or at least one of them, where all the others were shut out – by now know all the results filled onto Form EC8A on the field. Anybody or political party waiting for IREV for collation was just kidding, not ready for prime time.
“When it comes to discrepancies, there can only be comparisons between two INEC-certified documents: ones from the field (which must have been used for collation down the line of various collation centers) and the one set of uploaded documents Form EC8A onto IREV, either instantaneously or later for good logistical or tactical reasons. If there is any one of the two missing, or if there is a discrepancy, it is up to the courts to do one of three things:
“Accept one of them, likely the field one, particularly if the IREV one is missing.
“Reject both results, particularly if both results are mutilated and are different from each other.
“Call for a re-run in certain areas, especially if the overall winner result will be affected otherwise.
“My political instinct is that all of this palava will not matter a hoot on the long run. The final detailed numbers may be different, but statistically across the country, the winners will remain the same. The boundary conditions of BVAS and IREV will ensure that. But at least everyone would have been satisfied that their grievances would have been heard, and we will move forward to a more perfect electoral process.”
The Vice Chancellor asked “Can INEC ensure that more results are uploaded in a timely manner on Saturday? Certainly – and it must, and I believe it will. Next General Election will be the best ever, particularly if we can manage to eliminate the physical carriage of Form EC8A and other forms from PUs to RA collation centers, etc.
“Until then, however, in all the years that I have been reviewing General Elections in Nigeria – starting from when I was eight years old – this presidential election has been the best ever, thanks to BVAS and IREV.”
