ADC Rejects INEC Warning, Vows to Publish Independently Collated 2027 Results

ADC Rejects INEC Warning, Vows to Publish Independently Collated 2027 Results

The African Democratic Congress has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s warning against the publication of privately collated election results, insisting that political parties and citizens have the right to document, collate and share polling-unit results.

The party said it would deploy its polling agents and grassroots structures to document results at polling units, collate the figures and make verified information available to the public during the 2027 general elections.

The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, stated this on Thursday in a reaction to comments by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, cautioning political parties and other stakeholders against publishing unofficial election results.

While acknowledging INEC’s statutory responsibility to conduct elections, collate results through the prescribed process and declare winners, the party argued that the commission’s mandate did not prevent citizens, candidates or political parties from independently gathering and disseminating electoral information.

The ADC said its proposed system would involve its agents documenting results at polling units, after which the party’s structures would collate and communicate the figures to the public.

“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 said in the statement.

“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, however, stressed that its independently collated figures would not be presented as official election results or used as a substitute for INEC’s declaration.

According to the ADC, the objective is to make polling-unit results accessible to the public while preserving INEC’s constitutional and statutory authority to determine and announce the final outcome of elections.

The party maintained that electoral transparency should involve more than the electoral commission, arguing that political parties, candidates and citizens have legitimate roles in documenting the voting process and results at polling units.

“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,” it added.

The development comes as political parties and other stakeholders intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the transparency of result collation and transmission expected to remain a significant issue.

The debate over independently collated election results has featured prominently in recent electoral cycles, particularly with the growing use of digital platforms by political parties, candidates, observers and citizens to document voting activities and share results as they emerge.

The ADC said its position was not intended to usurp INEC’s statutory powers but to affirm what it described as the right of citizens and political parties to access, document and communicate electoral information, provided such figures are clearly identified as independently collated and not official declarations.