The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has given assurance that the commission will transmit realtime, all results of the November 11, 2023 off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states on INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV), as required by the country’s electoral laws.
Yakubu disclosed this in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Saturday, while carrying out on-the-spot assessment of the mock accreditation and facilities as well as readiness of the INEC office in the state for the election.
His remarks came amidst statements credited to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Bayelsa State, Ofiong Efanga, in which he purportedly said the results of the election will be manually collated.
“The method is as provided by law, electronic accreditation, electronic upload of results on the IREV portal and that is why we are doing this mock.
“So, please disregard whatever was reported about what the REC was said to have said in Bayelsa.
“That’s going to be the procedure and it’s for that reason that I will advise you also for those who are registered on the IREV portal, that in the next two hours or so, they should go to the IREV portal you will see the result of the mock from all the three states, we are uploading, as we have done in previous elections,” he said.
On the mock accreditation conducted in the 3 states on Saturday, Yakubu said he received pictures from Bayelsa, and the turnout for the mock accreditation was impressive.
“In fact, in Yenagoa, there is even a queue of voters waiting to be accredited. And we believe it is the same story that we’ll be hearing very soon from Imo,” he said.
While speaking on security, he said one of the major concerns of the electoral umpire as it prepares for the elections is security.
He said INEC is collaborating with security agencies to arrest any incidence of insecurity before, during and after elections.
“We are having cordial relationship with security agencies, they are doing their best, they are cutting down numbers of areas with security challenges.
“What we are waiting for is sensitive materials and we know sensitive materials always come a few days to elections,” he said.
Yakubu also told INEC electoral officers to activate the Registration Areas Centres, RACS, at scheduled time to help to open polling units as scheduled.
He disclosed that all non-sensitive electoral materials have been dispatched to the states, adding that INEC is taking proactive measures to ensure that it gives voters a pleasant voting experience on election day.
While speaking on the level of preparedness for the exercise, the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Hale Longpet, said non-sensitive materials have been received and sent to the Local Government Areas.
Longpet said Registration Area Centres, RACs, assessments have been carried out and where relocations are recommended, they have since been done, adding that a training workshop has also been held with all the RAC managers.
“We have received 60% of our budget and have also started disbursing to Local Government Area (LGA) to start those activities that need to be undertaken.
“We would like to request the Central Bank be directed to give us our cash directly to avoid delays and problems with transportation and RAC activation,” he said.
On transport arrangements, he said: “Talks have been held with the Unions both at the State and Local Government Areas (LGAs) levels. There are no problems yet as these talks have gone very well.
“In the area of difficult terrains, we have requested support of the Commission to assist us in terms of costs of transportation of materials and personnel to some areas of the State; e.g Kupa, Egan, Kakanda, Ibaji and certain areas of Kogi. Stakeholders’ Meetings: These have been held both at the State and Local Government Areas (LGAs) levels,” he said.
