The Ekiti election bodes well for democracy
In the just concluded Ekiti State Governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) acquitted itself fairly credibly. The recording and electronic upload of results was prompt and free from the usual flip flops. The completion of the entire process and announcement of final results was also prompt and with little acrimony so far. The same pattern was observed in the six (federal and state) legislative by-elections conducted by the Commission across five geo-political zones in the country.
At the end, voters exercised their franchise largely without disruption. The police and other law enforcement agencies did their work professionally. Election materials were deployed on time to polling units while INEC officials were also responsive to duty as they followed established protocols for accreditation and voting, contributing to the general orderly process. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) came into good reckoning. In the Ekiti gubernatorial election, except for glitches in a few locations where accreditation was delayed, the BVAS worked at an optimal level. Perhaps even more notable was the uploading of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) which progressed admirably well. According to reports, over 85 per cent of polling unit results were uploaded by 7:30pm on Election Day.
