The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has formally rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) warning against the publication of independently collated election results, declaring its intention to publicly release verified figures during the 2027 general elections.
The opposition party asserted that while INEC retains the sole statutory authority to declare official winners, citizens, political organizations, and civic observers possess the constitutional right to gather, collate, and disseminate polling unit data.
The stance was contained in an official statement issued on Thursday by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in response to recent remarks by INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, who cautioned political stakeholders against publicizing unofficial election outcomes.
Reacting to the electoral umpire’s directive, Abdullahi stated that the party’s grassroots machinery and polling unit agents would be fully deployed to document, compile, and broadcast verified voting figures as counting concludes across the country.
“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,” Abdullahi declared.
He added, “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.”
Addressing concerns regarding potential conflict with the electoral umpire, the ADC clarified that its proposed independent collation system is designed to complement transparency, not serve as a parallel electoral body or usurp INEC’s legal functions.
“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 statement added.
The party maintained that its figures would carry clear disclaimers identifying them as independently verified polling-unit counts rather than official declarations by the commission.
The legal framework governing Nigerian elections designates INEC as the sole body mandated to conduct federal and state elections, announce final tallies, and issue certificates of return. However, the surge in digital technology and public demands for electoral transparency have led political parties and civil society organizations to increasingly adopt real-time result-tracking systems.
This debate emerges as political parties, civil society organizations, and international observers intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, amidst growing public debate over result transmission, voter turnout, and electoral integrity.
