The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed the authenticity and official status of the results from the 2023 presidential election.

This declaration comes in response to claims by the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), which alleged discrepancies between the results published on INEC’s website and those reported by returning officers at the National Collation Centre.

CCIJ’s letter, dated August 7 and addressed to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, referenced reports of 1,578 polling units (PUs) where voting was cancelled due to irregularities.

The letter, based on the Freedom of Information Law, noted that while reasons such as overvoting and violence were cited, no specific figures were provided. CCIJ highlighted that the total number of registered voters was approximately 1,205,000.

In response, INEC’s spokesman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, dismissed these claims, stating that the Commission does not announce election results via YouTube and maintained that there are no discrepancies in the reported figures.

Oyekanmi assured that the number of polling units and registered voters remains consistent with the official results announced by INEC.

He explained that results can be cancelled for reasons such as violence, overvoting, or failure to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), as outlined in the Electoral Act of 2023 and the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections (2022). He invited the public to review the comprehensive details on INEC’s official website, www.inecnigeria.org.

Oyekanmi emphasized that the results of the 2023 presidential election, as presented by the State Returning Officers and the Returning Officer for the Federal Capital Territory at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, are both official and accurate.

He also disputed CCIJ’s figures from Imo State, asserting that they do not align with the publicly reported results from the Imo State Returning Officer.