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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will collaborate with Nigerian Communications Satellites Limited (NIGCOMSAT) to transmit results of the 2019 general elections in real-time.
INEC chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu made this known when he and a delegation team from the commission visited NIGCOMSAT operation base in Abuja on Wednesday.
The chairman and his team were taken on a tour of the Satellite Control Center, Network Operating Center, Broadband, Navigation, Innovation & Design unit and Direct-To-Home Center of the NIGCOMSAT.
Professor Yakubu and members of the commission were received by the MD/Chief Executive Officer NIGCOMSAT, Mrs.Abimbola Alale.
The INEC chairman expressed satisfaction with the products and services of NIGCOMSAT, and gave the assurance of the collaboration between the two organizations in carrying out the activities of e-collation and transmission of election results real time during the 2019 elections.
He said that through NIGCOMSAT’s satellite and connectivity provided by telecom operators, the results of elections of each of the 119,973 polling units nationwide would be electronically transmitted on the spot and real time, including the scanned images of result sheets.
The INEC chairman also said the commission wants NIGCOMSAT to help in voter education through electronics message display as the 2019 elections draw near.
“It is for this reason that we wish to leverage on the capacity of NIGCOMSAT to provide a wide range of telecommunication services.
“In particular, your broadband service offers a tremendous flexible bandwidth capacity that can be deployed almost anywhere and in a short period of time, including hard-to-reach and temporary locations.
“These are invaluable to the work of INEC. Working with you and in partnership with the NCC as well as the telecommunications operators, we believe the challenges to the seamless transmission of results are not insurmountable”, he said.
The INEC chairman said the commission is deepening its application of technology to elections hence the partnership with NIGCOMSAT.
“INEC would continue to make available the hard copies of results sheets to political party agents at each polling unit and collation centres against which the integrity of the electronically-transmitted results can be compared, verified and authenticated.
“Further, and in keeping with our current practice, a copy of the result for each election shall be pasted at the polling units immediately after the counting of ballots for public knowledge and accountability,” he added.
In her remarks, the Ms Alale said NIGCOMSAT was ready to partner with INEC in transmitting election result to every nook and cranny of Nigeria.
NIGCOMSAT’s Sat1-R, she said, is capable of covering and transmitting live and real time all that transpire during the election.
TheNewsGuru reports INEC visit to NIGCOMSAT is part of continuous consultation with national bodies to deepen the application of technology for the upcoming 2019 general elections.
Yakubu and his team also visited some voters’ registration centres in Abuja to monitor the progress of the exercise.