Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced on Saturday that the results of the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states on November 11 would be transmitted online.
As he stated, one of the commission’s key concerns in the conduct of the Kogi State governorship election is the state’s current security crisis.
Recall that the Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ofiong Efanga, recently stated that the commission would transmit governorship election results manually.
However, Yakubu made the explanation during his visit to Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, where he witnessed Saturday’s mock election and appraised the commission’s level of preparedness for the poll.
Yakubu stated again that the governorship elections in the three states would be held in accordance with the Electoral Act.
When asked about the mechanism that would be used to transmit election results, he stated, “The method is as provided by law: electronic accreditation and electronic upload of results on the INEC Results Viewing (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, and that is going to be the procedure. And it is for that reason that I will advise you that for those who have registered on the IReV portal, in the next two hours or so, they should go to the IReV portal; they will see the result of the mock from all three states; we are uploading, as we have done in previous elections.”
The INEC chairman stated further that the commission would hold a security meeting with security agencies next Friday in Abuja, adding that the meeting would also include the National Security Adviser (NSA) in preparation for the polls and that the focus of the meeting would be the security arrangements and deployment for the elections in the three states of Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo.
“Well, so far, so good in terms of assurance from the security agencies, as we can see. They’re even here for the mock and next week, Friday, there is going to be a high-level meeting in Abuja, chaired by myself and the National Security Adviser in which all the security chiefs will be present – no representation to discuss the issue of security for the three states, so, we are on top of the situation in terms of security arrangement and security deployment,” he added.