Ebonyi North senator, Onyebuchi Nwaebonyi, says the Senate deserves commendation over its efforts on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
This is as he said that the amendment to a section of the Electoral Act has officially authenticated the INEC Result Viewing portal, IREV, as a reference point for election results.
Nwaebonyi sooke on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’
DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday rescinded its earlier position, which had rejected the compulsory electronic transmission of results from polling units to IREV, following public backlash.
The upper legislative chamber however retained a provision allowing manual collation of results in areas with poor internet connectivity — a clause many critics have described as unnecessary.
Reacting, Senator Nwaebonyi said he and his colleagues deserve commendation rather than criticism for their actions.
“Before now, Section 60, sub-section 3, which deals mainly with the transfer and transmission of results from polling units under the 2022 Electoral Act, made no mention of IREV. There was no electronic transmission of results as a matter of law.
“But now, the 10th Senate, being a corrective Senate, has taken a decision to expressly introduce electronic transmission of results from polling units to IREV.
“IREV is not a collation centre; it is merely a portal where people could view results before now. But by what we did yesterday, IREV has been statutorily authenticated as a reference point,” Nwaebonyi said.
