INEC has revealed that it have the capacity for electronic transmission of results.

As reported by The Nation, following two days of acrimonious debate across Nigeria over the decision of the National Assembly on the amendment to the Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday sought to dispel insinuations about its ability to transmit election results electronically in 2023.

The commission said it has the capacity for electronic transmission of results from remote areas of the country.

“We have uploaded results from very remote areas, even from areas where you have to use human carriers to access,” INEC’s National Chairman and Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, said on Channels television.

“So, we have made our own position very clear, that we have the capacity and we have the will to deepen the use of technology in the electoral process.”

But Okoye said INEC would be guided by the power granted it by the constitution and the law.

“Our powers are given by the constitution and the law, and we will continue to remain within the ambit and confines of the power granted to the commission by the constitution and the law,” he stressed.

The issue of electronic transmission of results had caused sharp divisions in both chambers of the National Assembly with members voting mainly along party lines.

On Thursday, the majority of Senators voted for an amendment o Section 52 proposed by the Deputy Whip, Sabi Abdullahi, that: “The commission may consider electronic transmission provided the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the Nigerian Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly.”

A total of 52 senators voted in favour while 28 voted against. A total of 28 senators were absent during the voting process.

The House of Representatives followed on Friday by also ceding the prerogative to decide the mode of transmitting election result to INEC.

The House upheld the controversial Clause 52(2) which allows INEC to determine when, where and how voting and transmission of results will be done.

It stipulates thus: “Voting at an election and transmission of result under this bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the commission.”

Most members of the House from the opposition PDP had walked out after sensing the direction the pendulum was swinging.

Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu dissociated the PDP caucus from the decision.

Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said the House was not against electronic transmission of result, but rather interested in ensuring that the vote of every Nigerian is protected.

A petition to make ID a requirement for social media accounts has hit more than 650,000 signatures in the wake of trolls targeting England’s Euro 2020 stars.

The petition, however, was first raised by Katie Price and later other celebrities like Love Island and Laura Whitmore supported, calling for personal accounts on social media networks like  Facebook and Twitter to be linked to a verified form of identification.

According to them, this proactive measure, if implemented,  would help to prevent harmful activity across the various platforms and it would also help to provide traceable and reliable identity of a user if an offence is committed.

As at the time of this post, the petition have recorded over 600,000 signatures. This petition became necessary because some England players like Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka were racially abused on social media after missing penalties during the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson then held showdown talks with social media firms yesterday, demanding they ‘up their game’ over the abuse suffered by the Three Lions stars.