The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has addressed the controversy surrounding its decision to declare the 2023 presidential election result in the early hours of Wednesday, March 1.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
According to the report by Daily Post on Saturday, the electoral body announced Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner with 8,794,726 votes, ahead of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
The declaration of results at 2 am had raised concerns among some citizens, particularly those whose political parties did not win.
However, INEC’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, explained that the detailed process of collating results from various levels necessitated the late-night announcement.
Oyekanmi emphasized that Nigeria is treated as a single constituency during presidential elections, requiring results to be collated from ward, local government, state, and national levels.
He stated that INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had to wait for the 36 returning officers from across the country to present their results in Abuja, as mandated by law.
The electoral act does not specify a particular time for declaring election results, Oyekanmi noted.
He made comparisons with the 2015 presidential election, where results were declared around 4 am by former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega.
He said, “The chairman had to wait for the 36 returning officers, including those from distant locations, to present their results. The electoral act requires that results be brought and the returning officers be interviewed.”
