Harrison EDEH
As 2027 election preparation gears up,the African Democratic Congress (ADC)-a leading opposition party has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC)warning against the publication of privately collated election results.
The party insists that citizens and political parties have the right to collect, collate and share polling-unit results,amid concerns of dwindling public trust on the national electoral body.
The opposition party said it would use its agents and grassroots structures to record results from polling units, collate the figures and publish verified information during the 2027 general elections.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday,October 8, while reacting to comments by the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan’s caution against the publication of unofficial results.
Abdullahi who despite acknowledgement of INEC’s statutory responsibility to declare official election results and announce winners, argued that the commission’s mandate did not prevent political parties, candidates or citizens from independently gathering and disseminating election information.
“We are aware of our rights to freedom of expression under the Constitution. We are also aware of the limitations associated with those rights. And we hold that our rights to collate and share election results are not abrogated by any of the limitation clauses.
“The ADC will share our collated results with the public. Our agents will document results, our structures will collate them, and we will communicate verified figures to the public, clearly identifying their source and status,” the statement read in part.
The party stressed that its proposed collation system would not be used as an alternative to INEC’s official declaration of election results.
The development comes as political parties and other stakeholders intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, with transparency in the collation and transmission of polling-unit results still generating lots of controversies and concerns.
The debate over independently collated election results has featured in recent electoral cycles, particularly with the increased use of digital platforms by political parties, candidates, observers and citizens to document voting and share results as they emerge.
The ADC maintained that transparency in elections should not be limited to the electoral commission, arguing that political parties and citizens also had a legitimate role in documenting the voting process and results at polling units.
It, however, stressed that its figures would be clearly identified as independently collated results and would not be presented as official declarations by INEC.
INEC remains the legally recognised electoral body responsible for conducting federal and state elections, collating results through the prescribed process and declaring winners.
The ADC said its position was not intended to usurp the commission’s statutory powers but to affirm what it described as the constitutional rights of citizens and political parties to access, document and communicate electoral information.
“The responsibility to make official declarations of results and to declare winners of elections cannot reasonably abrogate the right of citizens to collect and collate election results and to share them,” the party added.
