We have enough laws backing electronic transmission of results — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has disclosed that there are enough laws that capacitated the electoral umpire to transmit election results electronically.

It therefore said it will not go back on the electronic transmission of results from polling units in future elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ogun State, Olusegun Agbaje, stated this during a news conference at the state INEC headquarters in Abeokuta on Thursday.

According to Agbaje, who just resumed in the state as the REC, the INEC already had enough laws that capacitated it to transmit election results electronically.

Agbaje said: “We have enough laws that capacitated us to go ahead, but if the National Assembly says we cannot do it with the new committee that had been set up, we will stop and that will be a new law.

“If they are going to make a new law that will incapacitate us that will be too bad.

“With the shout of Nigerians, non-governmental bodies, the media and many other stakeholders, I believe the National Assembly will do the right thing so that INEC can go ahead.

“If the National Assembly sees that there is any way that NCC (Nigeria Communications Commission) can help, they should tell the NCC.

“They have enough time to do that.

“They have more than one and a half years to do necessary things before the general election.

“We have an understanding that if results cannot be transmitted at a particular polling unit or location, due to network problems, they can move from the unit level to ward level where there is network and do it.

“Even before the transmission, all the party agents would have the manual copies of the results.

“To the INEC, we are very much ready and we have the capacity to do it to the admiration of all Nigerians.

“Where we have governorship election this year, in Ekiti and Osun States next year, we are going to do that if the National Assembly does not stop us.

“It is not only in the southern part of the country that we have been using it.

“In the House of Representatives and Senate elections that we conducted, we have used it and we shall continue to improve on what we have been doing.

“But if the National Assembly says we cannot do it, well, but for this coming election in Anambra later this year, Ekiti and Osun election next year, we are going to do it.”