By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has stated that it will document, collate and share polling-unit results with the public during the 2027 general elections, while respecting the Independent National Electoral Commission’s statutory responsibility to declare official election outcomes and to announce winners of elections.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party was responding to INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan’s warning against the sharing of privately collated results.
The ADC said that independently collating and sharing election results is a constitutional right, adding “The party, therefore, maintained the right to freely collect and share information, including election results”.It added, ‘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 party said.
The party said although it recognises INEC’s responsibility to make official declarations of results and to declare winners of elections, stressing however that “that responsibility cannot reasonably abrogate the right of citizens to collect and collate election results and to share them”.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
