Results From Party Agents Are Primary Evidence, Uploaded Results Unreliable – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the results obtained during the 2023 presidential election by the various party agents at the level of polling units are the primary evidence of election results.

VersNews Nigeria reports that this was revealed by Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee in an interrogative interview with ‘Channels TV’s Today’s Politics.’

According to Festus, Nigerians have already been informed that the presidential results could not be uploaded because there was a glitch.

He noted that the important of uploading the presidential election results as promised by INEC was to build public trust and also for the public to follow what goes within and around the election process.

Speaking further, Festus said that about 176,000 party agents were nominated by various parties to witness the election process at different polling units which is the primary source of result obtained by INEC.

Festus said it is unreasonable to rely on the results uploaded to the various polling units when each party can access the result through their agents.

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“We explained to Nigerians that there were challenges with uploading the presidential election results, and I’m using the word challenges as a layman’s way of trying to explain what happened. The Commission said that there was a glitch in terms of uploading the presidential election results,” he said

He continued; “But you know, and I’ve saud it times without number, the uploading of results of the election. Ad that result, the important, was to build public trust and also for the public to follow what goes on within and around the election process.

“But as you know, and as I know, the law, the Electoral Act 2022, gives every registered political party the opportunity to nominate polling agents or what, in popular parlance, we call party agents, to be eyes witness at the various polling units.”

“And most of the political parties did nominate their polling agents. In fact, three of the political parties nominated over 176,000 polling agents. One of them nominated around 134,000 polling agents. So what that means is that each political party had the primary evidence at the level of the polling unit of those results.”

“So I find it slightly difficult to understand why almost all the political parties arr relying only on resultd uploaded to the various polling units when they apply to the Commission and the Commission are credited over 176,000 polling agents.