The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared the results of the 2023 presidential election are “official and authentic.”
INEC dismissed claims that the last presidential election was riddled with discrepancies between the results on its website and those presented by returning officers at the National Collation Centre.
The electoral body was responding to a letter from the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), claiming that in the televised announcements, INEC reported 1,578 polling units (PUs) where voting was cancelled due to irregularities.
The letter was dated August 7 and addressed to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
CCIJ made the claim while relying on the Freedom of Information Law.
In the letter, CCIJ said no figures were given for the reason, but officials claimed overvoting, violence, and other irregularities, adding that the total number of registered voters was about 1,205,000.
Responding, Yakubu’s spokesman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said INEC does not announce election results on YouTube, adding that there are no discrepancies either in the number of registered voters or the presidential election results announced by the Commission.
He said: “There are no ‘differences’ in the number of polling units and registered voters in the listed states. The total number of polling units and registered voters remains as announced by the Commission.
“The result of an election may be cancelled for specific reasons, including violence, over-voting, and refusal to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), as stipulated in the extant laws. At the same time, the conditions for making a return when the result of an election is cancelled or declared null and void in specific polling units have also been explained in the Electoral Act 2023 and the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections (2022). You are invited to read the full details on our website, www.inecnigeria.org.
“The results of the 2023 presidential election presented by our 36 State Returning Officers and the Returning Officer for the FCT at the National Collation Centre, Abuja, are official and authentic.
“The figures quoted in your letter purportedly from some local government areas in Imo State are inconsistent with the details/results presented publicly by the Imo State Returning Officer at the National Collation Centre, Abuja.”