* As Electoral Commission Upgrades Election Results Viewing Portal
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CeleOkaf11
Election stakeholders in the Saturday February 12 Area Council poll conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the FCT Abuja, have called on INEC to ensure that the results from the polling units are uploaded on its viewing (IREV) portal.
Among the stakeholders who tasked the electoral umpire on the need to ensure a transparent election results is the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
Idayat Hassan, the CDD's Director, in a statement on Saturday, stated that when election results are uploaded early enough on INEC's portal, it enhances transparency, credibility and public confidence in the electoral process. She also pointed out the need for both the electoral and security officials to ensure fairness and neutrality in the entire election process.
Idayat however enjoined the security agencies to take a cue from the November 6, 2021 Anambra State governorship election in which the security was widely commended for their professionalism and neutrality during and after the election process. She revealed that her organization, the CDD, deployed observers to the six area councils to monitor both the poll and the collation of results in other to ensure a transparent outcome.
The CDD Director noted that poll observers help build public confidence in a given electoral processes. She added that the CDD also unveiled an Election Analysis Centre (EAC) for the FCT election so as to provide accurate and real-time analysis of events in the build-up to the polls, on the election day and even in post-election period in a more captivating, enriching and systematic manner.
However, about 478 candidates drawn from 14 political parties, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), contested for the chairmanship and councillorship vacancies across the six local government areas in the FCT area councils, which includes: Kuje, Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Abuja Municipal (AMAC) and Kwali.
According to NAN reports, the political parties which fielded candidates for the council poll are: the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), the Action Democratic Party (ADP), the Labour Party (LP), the African Action Congress (AAC) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has upgraded its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) to ensure optimum performance and accountability.
INEC disclosed this in a statement in Abuja at the weekend by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
According to the commission, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) has been migrated from www.inecelectionresults.com to www.inecelectionresults.ng.
The commission said all previously registered user credentials from the old URL remained valid on the new URL. It added that notification emails containing the new URL would be sent to all registered users.
INEC also stated that the notification to the effect had been uploaded to the commission’s social media platforms. (with reports from NAN). NNL.
