The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, declared Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, as the winner of the Edo State gubernatorial election conducted on Saturday, 21st September 2024.
Tribune Online reports that the election’s Returning Officer, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, announced that Okpebholo won the election after securing the highest number of votes.
Okpebholo of the APC, who secured the highest number of votes in 11 out of the 18 local governments in the state, polled a total of 291,667 votes. Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 247,274 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) polled 22,763 votes to come third.
IRev as a ‘Game Changer’
As in most other recent elections in Nigeria, the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal technology was deployed by the electoral commission at the Edo poll to monitor and upload results in real-time as voting ends on election day.
IReV is a dedicated portal for the public to view images of polling unit results as soon as they are ready, providing information that aids election transparency.
The technology, introduced by INEC in 2021, allows citizens to view polling unit results by simply logging into the portal. It also fosters greater transparency and accountability by allowing citizens, observers, and stakeholders to monitor and verify election outcomes.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, while announcing the introduction of IReV, stated that the new technology is a step towards further strengthening the election management process and enhancing the system’s transparency.
He was quoted to have said, “To further strengthen the transparency in the election result management system, the commission has decided to introduce a dedicated public portal, IReV that will enable Nigerians to view polling unit results in real-time as the voting ends on election day.”
INEC’s Guidelines for Conduct of Election
According to clause 38 of a document titled: Regulations and Guidelines for Conduct of Election 2022 and released by the nation’s electoral umpire – INEC- uploading of results to the IReV shall be done upon completion of polling unit voting and results procedures.
“On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:
“(i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.
“(ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.
“(iii) Take the BVAS and the original copy of each of the forms in tamperevident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre,” the clause says.
Edo guber: Previous Reports on Result uploads
In simple terms, IReV involves the online publishing of scanned copies of polling unit result sheets (Form EC8A), which are typically displayed at each polling unit as Form EC60E.
As of 7 p.m. on election day, Tribune Online reports that 73.67% of the results had been uploaded on IReV, representing results from 3,329 out of 4,519 polling units across the state.
A few hours later, the figure rose to 98.58%, leaving fewer than 70 polling units’ results yet to be uploaded. This figure represented results from 4,455 polling units, covering just four of the 18 local governments in the state.
IReV Stucks at 98%…13 LGAs not completed
However, five days after the winner was declared, a check by Tribune Online revealed that only five out of the 18 local government results had been completely uploaded on IReV portal, with the percentage of available results on the portal at 98.83% as of Friday, 27 September 2024.
The local governments whose results have been fully uploaded are Esan Central, Owan East, Esan South East, Esan North East, and Igueben with results of some polling units from the remaining 13 local governments still pending.
When contacted for his reaction and possible factors hindering the uploading of complete results on IReV, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) spokesperson in Edo State, Timidi Wariowei, declined to comment on the Edo election.
Mr Wariowei, who admitted to receiving WhatsApp messages from our correspondent before the call, said he was not ready to answer any questions about the Edo election.
“I’m not ready to answer any questions about the election,” he simply stated.
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