At last, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has opened the 2023 General Election National Collation Centre, in Abuja.
Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who declared open the national collation centre in front of a packed crowd, also set ground rules for the collation process, which include “results for each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) shall be presented by the State Coalition Officers for the Presidential Election (SCOPE).”
He said that, thereafter, he, as the Returning Officer for the presidential election, while acting as the Chief Electoral Commissioner, would collate and announce the final result.
“This is a duty that I’m privileged to perform and it will be done here at this place,” he said.
Other rules according to the INEC boss , included all accredited agents, observers, the media, the diplomatic community, and security agencies adhering to the sitting positions assigned to them.
“On arrival at the collation centre, the SCOPE shall be received at the coalition Secretariat, which shall organise the sequence of presentation.
“The returning officer shall invite the SCOPE for the presidential election, accompanied by the REC for the presentation of the results.
“The SCOPE following the format for the presentation of results shall loudly announce the votes scored by each political party in the state including reports of cancellations and areas where elections did not hold, if any.
“The returning officer then invites comments and observations, if any, from the polling agents.”
