By Eben Enasco
After the 2023 presidential election votes were cast, Nigerians were seen stuck to the INEC portal, attempting to track the uploaded Presidential Election results.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) however, did not fulfill its pledge which ended up taking days to weeks to upload the result to IReV for the public to access as the commission blamed the delay on unpredictable system complications and failures.
But the failure became a sensitive rallying point for opposition presidential candidates who lost the February 2023 vote conducted by Professor Mahmood Yakubu after telling Nigerians in every forum he embarked on sensitizing the electorate that the commission would upload all results on IREV.
This action resulted in a wide range of criticism from Nigerians who were frustrated by the action of the commission.
The Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi Elections will determine whether Professor Mahmood Yakubu will repent or strike against the people for the second time.
Recall that, Nigerians alleged widespread fraud during the election, where they maintained that the poll was invalidated by INEC’s failure to promptly upload the polling unit results to IReV as prescribed in the guidelines for the election.
In September, 2023, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) held and dismissed the Petition filed by the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his Labor Party counterpart, Peter Obi challenging INEC’s refusal to upload the results of the Election.
Three ad hoc staff of INEC who were Presiding Officers for the February 25 general election told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that only the results of the presidential election refused to upload to IREV.
The three presiding officers were subpoenaed by Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Led in evidence by the petitioner’s counsel, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), the witnesses told the court that they were able to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, machine to transmit results for the senatorial and House of Representatives elections successfully.
They, however, told the court in their separate testimonies that they were unable to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS to transmit the presidential election results thereby making them unsatisfied with the entire election process.
The three witnesses, Janet Turaki, Christopher Ardo, and Victoria Sani told the court that they were presiding officers in Yobe, Bauchi, and Katsina states.
The witnesses all agreed that other aspects of the election went well until it was time to upload the presidential results then the BVAS machines refused to work.
The court insisted that IReV had no place in the legal process of counting and collation of results as opposition candidates’ arguments about the IReV, which was a major thrust of their petitions, was thrown to the trash barrel and affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu.
This is where several Nigerians believed that the mandate of valid voters has gone into a decision made by the few controlling the political power in the country, casting serious doubt on the credibility of the electoral system.
Dissatisfied with the position of the appeal court, the opposition candidates have raised the issue in their appeals at the Supreme Court where they are challenging the verdict of the presidential election court.
At its regular meeting held Tuesday, June 6, 2023, INEC approved the final list of candidates for the three off-cycle Governorship elections scheduled to hold in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States starting Saturday, November 11, 2023, for the election.
The decision, according to the commission is in line with the provision of Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 which requires the publication of the list not later than 150 days to election day i.e., Friday, June 9, 2023, following the period for voluntary withdrawal and substitution of candidates by political parties under Section 31 of the Electoral Act 2022.
Fast forward, to the off-cycle election, INEC in its usual element in less than a month to go has validated its decision to upload the results through the IREV Portal.
The INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, said the results of Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo states will be uploaded to the Result Viewing Portal (IReV) “because it is a matter of law”.
Yakubu who was speaking with the press at Ward 009, LEA School, Ganaja Village, Ajaokuta LGA, Kogi State affirmed the position of the commission.
Contrary to the manual collation witnessed at the Presidential and National Assembly Election, INEC has promised to upload the results of the Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi Election in the November 11, 2023 governorship and state assembly elections.
Following some of the concerns raised by Nigerians at the February presidential election, INEC has taken full responsibility for the problems associated with the delay in uploading most of the results to the IReV.
The obvious question is, have those appointing the Commission scribe changed the same man who couldn’t stay by his words in the presidential election?
What has suddenly informed his decision to use the IREV this time and admitting that it is a matter of law to do so after his earlier claims of not on obligation to use it during the February, presidential election despite billions of naira spent to acquire BIVAS?
Or was the decision to ignore the call to upload the results a manipulation stirred to favor a certain political group? These are valid questions begging for answers.
One would have expected that by not making such a commitment, Yakubu could have taken his cue from the last presidential election when the failure to promptly upload polling unit results to IReV as earlier promised by the commission triggered tremendous criticism from opposition candidates and caused a major blow to the credibility of the poll.
Professor Yakubu said on Saturday that the commission would follow the laws for accreditation and results collation during the forthcoming elections and projected that the results of the mock election would appear on IReV within two hours.
“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 Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, was said to have said in Bayelsa.
IReV is an online platform where photographic pictures of polling unit results are meant to be uploaded using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines as soon as voting and collation end at the various voting units.
If Nigerians would ever trust the commission, which had in successive elections done a hatchman job to favor the political party in power, subsequent INEC chairman must not be nominated or appointed by the government of the day, except, if, the country wants to remain stagnant.
