FCT Polls: INEC rebuts ‘real-time’ claims, clarifies transmission protocol

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has debunked reports suggesting that results for the February 21 Federal Capital Territory FCT Area Council elections will be transmitted in “real-time.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, the Commission cautioned that such terminology is a technical misrepresentation of its established processes.

The clarification followed a recent inspection of election readiness across the Kuje, Gwagwalada, and Bwari Area Councils by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN.

According to the Commission, while Prof. Amupitan confirmed that technology remains central to the upcoming polls, he did not use the phrase “real-time” during his engagements with the press.

The Commission noted that the term implies a live, simultaneous feed of votes as they are being cast – a method that is neither supported by the current legal framework nor the Commission’s operational guidelines.

Addressing the specific nature of the Chairman’s remarks, the Commission explained that Prof. Amupitan was responding to inquiries regarding INEC’s technological experiments.

He reportedly emphasized that the protocol for electronic transmission is already a settled matter, having been in consistent use since 2022.

“Since 2022, INEC has been transmitting results. We have the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, and BVAS is capable of accrediting and also uploading and transmitting the results. So definitely, the results will be transmitted”, Prof. Amupitan reportedly stated during the inspection.

The Commission further detailed the sequence of events required by the Electoral Act and INEC Regulations before any electronic transmission occurs. It maintained that the electronic upload of scanned Polling Unit results (Form EC8A) to the IReV portal only takes place after the conclusion of voting, the manual counting of ballots, and the formal signing of result sheets by party agents.

Stressing the sensitivity of election technology in the current national discourse, the Commission urged media practitioners to exercise meticulous care in their reportage. It warned that misquoting technical procedures could trigger “unnecessary public agitation and misinformation.”

Despite the clarification on terminology, the Commission reaffirmed its “100 percent commitment” to conducting a transparent, technology-driven election in the FCT, promising to adhere strictly to the established electronic upload protocols.

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