Pooja, who was seven years old at the time, went missing on January 22, 2013. She claimed she was picked up from outside her school in Mumbai, Maharashtra, by a pair who enticed her with an ice cream.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said results during the 2023 general elections will be transmitted electronically in line with Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022.
This was stated in a statement released on Sunday by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in which he debunked a viral news report that the commission had decided to adopt manual transmission during the 2023 polls.
The statement reads: "The Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) attention has been drawn to a misunderstanding arising from a recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections.
“Some have interpreted the explanation on result management procedure to mean that the Commission has jettisoned the electronic transmission of result and reverted to the manual process. This is not correct.
"For clarity, the procedure for result transmission remains the same as in recent Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. There will be no change in all future elections, including the 2023 General Election.
"We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of result has come to stay. It adds to the credibility and transparency of the process when citizens follow polling unit level results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on real-time on Election Day. There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections.
"The entire gamut of result management is provided for in Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022. In line with the provision of the law, the Commission, in April this year, released a detailed clarification of the procedure for transmission, collation and declaration of result which was shared with all stakeholders and uploaded to our website."
As a result, INEC urges all Nigerians to rely on the terms of the Electoral Act and the Commission's full explanation of the procedure rather than drawing conclusions based on media headlines.”
Meanwhile, Okoye had given the impression that the collation of results of the 2023 general elections will be done manually despite the adoption of electronic transmission of results.
Okoye said in an interview with The PUNCH on Saturday, “There is a marked difference between the transfer/transmission of results and the collation of results. Section 50(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 gives the commission the absolute discretion to determine the mode and procedure of voting in an election and the transmission of election results.
“Sections 60 and 62 of the Electoral Act govern post-election procedure and collation of election results. Section 60(1) of the Act provides that the presiding officer shall, after counting the votes at a polling unit, enter the votes scored by each candidate in a form to be prescribed by the commission.
“Section 60(5) of the Act makes it mandatory that the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot in a manner prescribed by the commission. Thereafter, the presiding officer shall after recording and announcing the results deliver the same along with election materials under security and accompanied by the candidates or their polling agents, where available to such person as may be prescribed by the commission.
“The implication of this is that the collation process of results is still essentially manual, but the collation officer must collate subject to his verification and confirmation that the number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units.”
There was a backlash from many Nigerians who questioned the statement and alleged plots to rig the next general elections in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).