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.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com