The off-cycle governorship elections in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa states are taking place today, November 11, 2023.
These elections are held outside the general elections schedule due to various reasons, such as court orders, death of candidates, or inconclusive polls.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is conducting the elections in 5,199 polling units across the three states, with a total of 53 candidates and 18 political parties vying for the governorship seats.
One of the innovations that INEC has introduced to enhance the transparency and credibility of the electoral process is the INEC Election Result Viewer (IReV) portal.
The IReV allows voters and other interested parties to monitor the electoral process and view the results of ongoing elections in real-time.
The portal provides pictures of the election results from each polling unit, including the number of votes cast for each candidate and the percentage of total votes cast.
To access the IReV portal, follow these steps:
- Visit the INEC website at [www.inecnigeria.org] and click on the IReV icon or visit the portal directly at www.inecelectionresults.ng.
- Select the election type from the drop-down menu. You can choose from Presidential, Governorship, Senatorial, House of Representatives, or State House of Assembly elections.
- Select the state and the local government area where the election is taking place. You can also use the map to navigate to the desired location.
- Select the registration area and the polling unit to view the results. You can also search for a polling unit by name or code.
- You will see the result sheet for the selected polling unit, showing the name and logo of each political party, the number of votes they received, and the percentage of total votes. You can also zoom in or out of the result sheet or download it as a PDF file.
- You can also view the summary of results for the entire state, local government area, or registration area by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page.
The IReV portal is a useful tool for citizens to verify the authenticity of the election results and to hold the electoral officials accountable.
However, the portal does not replace the official declaration of results by the INEC, which is the only body authorized to announce the winners of the elections. Therefore, users of the portal are advised to exercise caution and patience while waiting for the final results from the INEC.
For the ongoing governorship elections in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa states, the IReV portal is expected to display the results as soon as they are uploaded by the presiding officers at the polling units.
The portal will also show the results of the senatorial by-elections in Kogi West and Kogi Central districts.
As of the time of writing this article, some of the results have already been uploaded on the portal and can be accessed by following the steps above.