The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially declared the 2023 presidential election results as valid and accurate.
Responding to allegations of discrepancies in the election process, INEC dismissed claims that there were inconsistencies between the announced results and the data provided by returning officers at the National Collation Centre.
In a letter dated August 7 addressed to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) raised concerns regarding 1,578 polling units where voting was reportedly canceled due to irregularities during the televised announcements.
CCIJ invoked the Freedom of Information Law to question the lack of specific figures for the cancellations, citing reasons such as overvoting, violence, and other irregularities, with a total estimated number of registered voters at around 1,205,000.
In response, Yakubu’s spokesperson, Rotimi Oyekanmi, affirmed that INEC does not release election results on YouTube and emphasized that there were no discrepancies in the registered voter numbers or the officially announced presidential election results.
Oyekanmi stated, “The 2023 presidential election results, as presented by the 36 State Returning Officers and the FCT Returning Officer at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, are verified and accurate.
“The figures mentioned in your letter, supposedly from certain local government areas in Imo State, do not align with the publicly disclosed details by the Imo State Returning Officer during the National Collation Centre proceedings.”