INEC: Election results cannot be influenced

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that no one can alter or influence the results of the 2023 general elections.

INEC’s Head of Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Society in Oyo State, Mrs Rosemary Alaba Adeniyi made this disclosure on Thursday while speaking during an Inter-faith Peace Summit on 2023 General Elections organised by the Abrahamic Mission.

According to reports, the one-day summit which was held at the University of Ibadan was attended by representatives of various religious organisations, political parties, security agencies, INEC officials and the media.

Some of those in attendance include the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Afis Oladosu, former Head, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Professor Kamil Olosho, Reverend Ayo Albert Olaniyi from Anglican Church, Ibadan and Imam Fuad Adeyemi, National Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society.

Adeniyi while speaking at the summit insisted that the allegiance of INEC is to Nigerians. She added that no one can alter the results of the elections in 2023.

She said: “Why I said that it is not possible to alter the results is because of the game changer INEC has introduced into the electoral system, that is [the] Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS). BIVAS is another key element that will make sure that the election is credible and the result is not altered.

According to her: “BIVAS will be used to do accreditation on the day of the election, to authenticate the voter and verify. After voting at the polling unit, the result will be entered into the result sheet, the result sheet will be snapped by the BIVAS, it will be transferred to the INEC result viewing portal where everyone can view the result. That is the reason I said that the result cannot be altered by anyone.”

Adeyemi, while speaking on the essence of the summit insisted that the programme was organised to sensitise stakeholders on their roles ahead of the 2023 elections.

“All of us have roles to play. The religious leaders, security agencies and others. Religious leaders have to take the message to their congregations. The media should help us to disseminate the message too,” she stated.

Newsmen gathered that the Presidential and National Assembly elections have been fixed to hold on 25th February 2023 while the Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly have been fixed to hold on 11th March 2023.