The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has affirmed that the results of the 2023 presidential election, as announced, are both authentic and official. INEC responded to concerns raised by the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), which questioned discrepancies between the results reported from polling units and those declared at the National Collation Center.
According to INEC, there is no difference between the results collected by state returning officers and those announced at the national level. This clarification comes in response to a letter from CCIJ dated August 7, 2024, which highlighted that 1,578 polling units had their results canceled due to irregularities and suggested that the declared results differed from the actual polling unit results.
INEC’s spokesman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, addressed these claims, stating that there are no discrepancies in the number of polling units or registered voters as reported. He emphasized that election results may be canceled for reasons such as violence, over-voting, or issues with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), as outlined in the Electoral Act 2023 and INEC’s guidelines.
Oyekanmi invited the public to review the details on INEC’s website, asserting that the results presented by state returning officers and at the National Collation Centre are official and accurate. He also noted that the figures cited in the CCIJ letter, particularly from Imo State, were inconsistent with the results publicly announced by the state’s returning officer.
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