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INEC shifts national collation of results to Monday

Mustapha USMAN
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INEC shifts national collation of results to Monday

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the collation of the presidential election results till 11am on Monday.

The INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced this today at the National Collation Centre, Abuja.

According to Yakubu, only one state had concluded the collation of its results.

He said the results of the remaining states were on their way to Abuja.

The ICIR had reported that the commission had disclosed that the collation of presidential results opened early today.

Yakubu said that the collation of election results would commence immediately after the scores of each state begin to arrive.

“From today the collation centre is hereby declared open until the final determination of the 2023 presidential election. During the proceeding, there may be an interlude or adjournment. This will be announced by the returning officer as the need arises.

“As soon as any of the scores arise, the collation will begin. Once the processes begin, the collation centre will be open all day and all night subject only to short breaks as may be announced by the returning officer,” he said.

The ICIR, however, gathered that Ekiti is the only state with sorted results.

The presidential election, which held yesterday across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, were contested by 18 political parties. Data from INEC showed that 87,209,007 of registered voters collected their PVCs and participated in the election. The figure translates to 93.3 per cent of total number of registered voters, which is 93,469,008.

How identity difference affects Nigeria’s electoral outcome — CDD

Beloved JOHN
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How identity difference affects Nigeria’s electoral outcome — CDD

THE identity difference among Nigerians has played a significant role in the electoral process over the years, says the Centre for Democracy and Development Election Analysis (CDDEA).

The CDDEA, a non-profit organisation which focuses on democratic governance and human rights, said this on Sunday February 26 at a press conference in Abuja.

The chairman of the CDD election, Adele Jinadu, explained that the issue of identity plays out through ethnicity and tribalism and continues influencing voters’ choices nationwide.

Jinadu noted that ethnic differences also influence the decision-making of party members and political parties, and contribute to inter- and intra-party crises.

He stated that the factors that had influenced elections in Nigeria over the last decade were interrelated, with each affects the other.

According to him, objectively analysing Nigeria’s electoral process and results require paying attention to five major issues: Identity, insecurity, infrastructure, institution and information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Election results cannot be tampered with – INEC

Ijeoma OPARA
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Election results cannot be tampered with – INEC

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said results from polling units in the 2023 general elections are safe and cannot be altered.

This was contained in a statement by the the INEC chairman for Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, on Sunday February 26.

Okoye expressed regret over the malfunctioning of the INEC Results Viewing portal (IReV), and urged Nigerians to avoid actions that could foster disaffection towards the Commission.

“These results cannot be tampered with and any discrepancy between them and the physical results used in collation will be thoroughly investigated and remediated, in line with Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022,” he noted.

The statement also stated that the challenges were caused by technical hitches resulting from the advancement of the IReV portal from a platform for state elections to one capable of managing nationwide voting.

“It is, indeed, not unusual for glitches to occur and be corrected in such situations. Consequently, the Commission wishes to assure Nigerians that the challenges are not due to any intrusion or sabotage of our systems, and that the ReV remains well-secured.

“Our technical team is working assiduously to solve all the outstanding problems, and users of the IReV would have noticed improvements since last night,” he noted.

The Commission assumed responsibility for the problem and expressed regret over the distress experienced by candidates, political parties and voters over the issue.

Following the voting exercise on Saturday February 25, Nigerians condemned the delay in uploading election results on the IReV portal, which has left many doubting the credibility of the process.

‘How I saved over 80 votes for Peter Obi’ – Party agent

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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‘How I saved over 80 votes for Peter Obi’ – Party agent

A PARTY agent for the Labour Party (LP) Gowon Attah, claimed he saved over 80 votes for the party’s presidential candidate during the Presidential and National Assembly election held across Nigeria on Saturday, February 25.

The ICIR reporter was at the FRSC Open Ground Polling Unit at the Gwagwalada Area Council, where the incident occurred while election results were being sorted and counted.

An argument ensued because the presidential ballots brought by INEC officials were more than the number that should have been taken to the venue by one. Attah said he would sacrifice a vote belonging to the Labour Party presidential candidate as a ‘void vote’ to correct the error. 

Other party agents and the INEC officials were pleased with his decision.

Curious, The ICIR reporter sought to know why Attah took the decision.

He told The ICIR, “During the course of the election, we discovered an error from the INEC officials. They issued (an) extra presidential ballot paper, instead of House of Representatives. It means that somebody was issued three ballot papers, one for the Senate and two for the Presidential, instead of one each for the Presidential, Senate and House of Representatives. The person voted for Labour Party in both presidential ballots. “In the course of counting, we discovered that there was an extra presidential vote and a shortage in the House of Representatives vote. 

“Being the agent of the Labour Party that carried the day in this polling unit, instead of us to have one extra vote that would make the votes in this place to be void, I decided to sacrifice one (presidential vote of the LP) to be put in the House of Representatives as a void vote, so that all the votes will tally with (what is in) the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).”

The presidential election result at the polling unit showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had six votes, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had three, and Labour Party had 87. 

The ICIR reported the Labour Party presidential candidate won all the 11 polling units monitored by the organisation in Gwagwalada town.

He defeated the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso, and other contenders for the presidency.

Kano: Kwankwaso leads Tinubu, Atiku, others after results from 9 LGAs

Mustapha USMAN
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Kano: Kwankwaso leads Tinubu, Atiku, others after results from 9 LGAs

THE candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso is currently leading in the presidential election in Kano State after results from nine LGAs were collated.

Kwankwaso has so far secured 139,725 votes compared to his arch rivals, APC candidate Bola Tinubu, who has scored 81,511 votes and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, who polled 19,436

The results of nine of the 40 local governments have been officially announced at the INEC State Collation Centre in Kano.

The NNPP candidate has won in eight of the nine LGAs while APC’s Tinubu has won one LGA.

The eight LGAs where Kwankwaso won are Gaurun Mallam, Rimin Gado, Kibya, Kura, Gezawa, Minjibir, Gabasawa and Warawa.

Collation of results is ongoing in other LGAs.

Elections: CODE highlights worrisome trends across the nation

Bankole ABE
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Elections: CODE highlights worrisome trends across the nation

CONNECTED Development (CODE), a Nigerian non-profit organisation that monitored the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, have highlighted what it described as “worrisome trends” across the country.

The group, in collaboration with its media partners, said gaps and unpreparedness within the structure of the electoral process are threatening the credibility of the election.  

CODE uses Uzabe, a tool, to identify flaws in the Nigerian electoral processes and to provide a feedback mechanism that gives citizens real-time situational reports on election processes targeting specific locations within different parts of the country.

Uzabe currently has 20,000 trained observers dispersed across different voting units in Nigeria.

Hamzat Lawal, CEO of CODE, said at a press briefing on Sunday, February 26, that the 2023 general election is still in progress, with 20,000 community-driven observers on the ground.

He said CODE and its partners using Uzabe had noticed a worrisome trend across the nation that points to the gaps and unpreparedness within the structure of the electoral process, which is threatening the credibility of this election.  

He said several reports indicate that States like Ekiti, Cross River, Imo, and Rivers have had their Local Government Area (LGA) collation centres relocated without adequate information to stakeholders.

“In Ekiti especially, we have it on good authority that all LGA collation centres were relocated, and in most cases, accredited observers were outrightly denied access and new locations were shrouded in secrecy.

“We have seen issues of elections not holding in some local government areas, and results are being collated. This happened in Oru East, Imo State, where our observers confirmed that no election was held, and in fact, some voters were asked to vote in a private residential building of a party chieftain, which is clearly against INEC guidelines and the Electoral Act. Yet we have results from that LGA. This is an indictment on INEC and all that our constitution stands for. 

“We also noted that in many polling stations, BVAS were reported to be malfunctioning, and observers even recorded a shortage of necessary materials. For example, in the North East (In Adamawa precisely), we have several reports of the BVAS malfunctioning and the accreditation process is disrupted. This is happening in a place like Yola North, in the Capital School Polling Unit,” Hamzat said.

He said CODE is also concerned about the slow upload of results on the INEC result portal, even though elections have been concluded in some polling units since yesterday.

He gave the following data on the election. 

“Polling station issues that had the highest publication on Uzabe had the following breakdown by geopolitical zones: SE – 11%, SW – 13.19%, NC – 19.15%, NE – 17.87%, NW – 23.4, SS – 14.47. We see that the northwest had the highest polling station issues.

“Positive events which had the second highest publishing on UZABE has the following breakdown by geopolitical zones: SE – 3%, SW – 10%, NC – 27%, NE – 13%, NW – 24%, SS – 23%. We see that the north central had the highest positive events.”

CODE and its partners called on the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to be independent and serve the people the constitution has mandated.

 “Nigerians deserve efficiency, they deserve fairness, with people denying themselves sleep and keeping wake under the rain, Nigerians deserve better from Public institutions. 

“Therefore we are calling on INEC to address these issues immediately. We are also calling on the Nigerian police as the lead agency on election security to monitor,” Hamzat added.

The group praised security forces deployed for their part in the election and asked INEC to stick to the electoral act of 2022.

 

VIDEO: Abuja residents protest over INEC’s failure to conduct election

Editorial
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VIDEO: Abuja residents protest over INEC’s failure to conduct election

On Sunday, some residents of the Lugbe area in Abuja protested against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ‘s failure to conduct elections in their area.

Watch the video of their protest below:

Tinubu in early lead after seven LGAs results collated in Katsina

Mustapha USMAN
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Tinubu in early lead after seven LGAs results collated in Katsina

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu, is leading his closest rivals, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar, in at least six Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Katsina state.

The ICIR gathered that Tinubu has polled not less than  82,332 votes in the six local government areas of the state. His closest rival, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 69,175 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, recorded 8,629 votes.

The results were announced by the collation officer at the State Collation Centre in Katsina.

Atiku has so far won a Local Government Area. He emerged winner of the Batsari local government area with 8,889 against Tinubu, who had 7,017. NNPP got 1,096 in the area.

READ ALSO:

Katsina state has 34 local government areas.

The six LGAs where Tinubu won are Matazu, Kaita, Musawa, Ingawa, Charanci and Dutci.

Collation of other LGAs is ongoing.

LIVE FACT-CHECK : 2023 Presidential and National Assembly election [RESULTS]

Editorial
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LIVE FACT-CHECK : 2023 Presidential and National Assembly election [RESULTS]

The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) brings you live-check of election-related misinformation and disinformation spreading online and on television  as results trickle in.

See election day Live Fact-Check HERE

Do you have an election related claim you want us to fact-check?

Reach the NFC us via HERE.

This page is constantly being updated with verified checks.

Claim 14

CLAIM: A WhatsApp message that has gone viral and published by Igbo Times Magazine on Facebook claims that former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, stormed INEC’s collation centre in Abuja with election results from the 36 states in Nigeria.

THE FINDINGS: A Premium Times reporter at the collation centre, Qosim Suleiman, noted that the former president was not there.  He also shared picture evidence of what the collation centre looks like as of 7p.m on Sunday night, revealing those present.

A reverse image search also showed one of the images shared via Twitter was from a meeting between Atiku and Obasanjo reported by Channels Television in 2019. The collation of results is still ongoing.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCES: Premium Times reporter and Google reverse image search

Claim 13

CLAIM: A Twitter user, Chigoziel Alex (@ChigozielAlex), claimed that the election did not hold in Awo-Omamma, Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State, yet election results have been uploaded.

THE FINDINGS: The CODE Observer in Imo state, Chigoziri Osuji, confirmed to NFC that the claim is true as no election was conducted at the location; however, results were uploaded. CJID Observer, Igwe Ugochukwu, in Imo state, also confirmed that the election didn’t occur due to a sit-at-home order.

VERDICT: CORRECT

SOURCES: CODE and CJID Observers

Claim 12

CLAIM: Reno Omokri posted a graphic on his Instagram page claiming the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is leading with 25 per cent in 25 states.

THE FINDINGS: INEC is yet to post conclusive results on the presidential elections. INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, told Channels TV at 3:45 pm on Sunday, February 26, 2023 that the electoral body will announce the full presidential election results at the national collation centre in Abuja.

VERDICT: MISLEADING

SOURCES: INEC, Channels TV

Claim 11

CLAIM: A Twitter user, Quinn (@Quinn_Tweets), shared an image showing the Labour Party is leading the polls by 36 per cent, followed by the PDP by 27 per cent and the APC by 24 per cent.

THE FINDINGS: A reverse image search shows it is a screenshot of an opinion poll conducted on January 27, 2023, by Nextier.

The viral image was shared after cropping parts showing it is a pre-election poll.

The poll was shared by Nextier on Twitter on February 5, 2023. Figures from INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) show otherwise.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: Nextier

Claim 10

CLAIM: An online post claims that the Labour Party (LP) has called for the cancellation of the ongoing presidential election as INEC cannot upload results from the polling units into its server.

THE FINDINGS: LP, in a press release on its website, condemned the delay, but the party did not seek cancellation of the results.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: Labour Party’s website.

Claim 9

CLAIM: A Twitter account, PDP New Media (PDP_NEWMEDIA) claimed that the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abuubakar, has secured 25% in about 25 states.

THE FINDINGS: There has not been an official announcement of results by INEC at the national collation centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. At state level, only results from Ekiti State have been announced so far as of 2.15p.m. when this fact check was filed.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCES: Media reports

Claim 8

CLAIM:  There have been viral claims that  a Labour Party Chieftain, Pat Utomi, was held hostage by thugs at a collation centre in Victoria Island, Lagos state.

THE FINDINGS:  Labour party spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, has debunked the claim.

Similarly, PPRO Police State Command, Benjamin Hundeyin,  told the NFC that he is unaware of the situation.

Pat Utomi also confirmed that “he is fine” and described the claim as false.

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: Pat Utomi, Yunusa Tanko, Benjamin Hundeyin

Claim 7

CLAIM:  A viral report claimed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed the residence of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), during the elections.

THE FINDINGS: When contacted, Wilson Uwajuren, the spokesperson of the EFCC, told the NFC that the agency only deployed officials to the polling stations to monitor the elections and did not visit the house of any candidate.

Also, Labour Party spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, debunked the claim. We also found that the photo was that of EFCC officials’ visit to Ward C, PU 085 Alausa, Ikeja, on Saturday.

VERDICT: INCORRECT.

SOURCE: EFCC’s spokesperson, LP PCC spokesperson, Media report.

Claim 6

CLAIM: A Twitter parody account with the name Niyi Akinsiju and the username @Agbaakinlmodoye claimed APC has won four local government areas in Lagos state.

THE FINDINGS: A check on the INEC IReV portal by the NFC shows that the results posted by Akinsiju were misleading as the electoral body is yet to collate results for all the Wards/RA in the mentioned local government areas: Alimosho; Ikeja; Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Amuwo Odofin.

VERDICT: MISLEADING.

SOURCE: INEC IReV portal, Media Observer.

Claim 5

CLAIM: A viral claim circulated by social media users on WhatsApp and Twitter claims that INEC has extended elections in 16 states.

THE FINDINGS: Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman clarified that the news is not from the commission.

Additionally, INEC’s national chairman on voter’s education, Festus Okoye, debunked the news as fake. He stated that “INEC did not extend the voting period in 16 States. The narrative is fake and the public should disregard it entirely.”

VERDICT: INCORRECT

SOURCE: INEC

Claim 4

CLAIM: A claim circulates on WhatsApp with results that APC and PDP are leading in  Kwara, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states with 6,111,796 and 4,367,845, respectively.

THE FINDINGS: Results in the aforementioned states are still being collated, and the final results are yet to be announced as of 11.25a.m. of Sunday, February 26, 2023. Also, updates from multiple news platforms did not support this claim.

VERDICT:  MISLEADING.

SOURCE: Multiple news sources

Claim 3

CLAIM:  A Twitter user, Comrade Moh (@I_Am_marwa), claims Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party’s VP candidate, was voted only by his wife and children at his polling unit.

THE FINDINGS: The Labour Party’s VP polling unit is 021 at Tudun Wada ward in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Based on reports by the Punch Newspaper and TheCable, there were 272 accredited voters at the polling unit.

PDP won the polling unit with 102 votes, followed by the APC with 98 votes, while LP came third with 54 votes, and the NNPP secured 11 votes.

VERDICT: INCORRECT.

SOURCE: Punch and TheCable Newspapers

Claim 2

CLAIM: An APC supporter with the Twitter username @Tinubufrontier claimed Bola Tinubu had won about seven local government areas in Yobe State.

THE FINDINGS: Anna Charles, a media observer affiliated with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), told the NFC that the results bandied around on social media were false as official results had yet to be compiled at the collation centre.

VERDICT: INCORRECT.

SOURCE: CJID Observer

Claim 1

CLAIM: An APC supporter with the Twitter username @DOlusegun claimed TheCable’s report on LP performance at Gbajabiamila’s polling unit is false.

THE FINDINGS: Our findings showed that the result uploaded by TheCable Newspaper is for the presidential election in which the Labour Party polled 89 as against the APC’s 69. A journalist affiliated with the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) confirmed this to the NFC.

The social media user mistook it for the result of the Senatorial election, where the APC topped the chart.

VERDICT: MISLEADING.

SOURCE: Media Observer, News report.

 

Nigerian Fact-checkers' Coalition

*This live-check was jointly researched and written by members of the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition (NFC): Nurudeen Akewushola, Faith Abeka, Fatimah Quadri (FactCheckHub); Rosemary Ajayi (Digital Africa Research Lab); Daniel Adaji (The Insight); Elizabeth Ogunbamowo, Lois Ugbede, Cole Praise, Silas Jonathan, Temilade Onilede, Lateef Sanni (Dubawa); Catherine Adeniyi, Motunrayo Joel, Allwell Okpi, Seyi Awojuyigbe, Fatimah Abubakar, Abisola Olasupo (Africa Check); Rejoice Ewodage, Hannah Ajakaiye (FactsMatterNG), Shehu Olayinka and Bamas Victoria (The ICIR).

It was edited and approved for publication by Kemi Busari, Caroline Anipah, Simbiat Bakare (Dubawa), David Ajikobi (Africa Check), Ajibola Amzat, and Opeyemi Kehinde (FactCheckHub).

More than 24 hours after, voters await election materials in parts of Lagos, Delta

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
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More than 24 hours after, voters await election materials in parts of Lagos, Delta

MORE than 24 hours after the commencement of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, voters in Lagos and Delta states have lamented the absence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and electoral materials in some polling units.

Speaking on Arise TV on Sunday, February 26, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Eti-Osa Federal Constituency, Olubankole Wellington (Banky W) alleged that INEC has disenfranchised voters in the area.

Wellington stressed that despite the extension of the election in some places across the country INEC officials and electoral materials have not been seen in many polling units in Eti-Osa.

“From morning till evening yesterday (Saturday) no INEC official showed up. There was a communication that came up today that voting will happen between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm, we have been here since morning to ask the INEC officials when they are sending officials and materials to this polling units so that people can exercise their civic rights.”

He further claimed that electoral officers in Eti-Osa revealed that a directive has not been given by INEC to proceed with the election in the affected polling units.

“They told us that they have not received any directive to go out and conduct any election. The same people who were out yesterday all day have been waiting in the sun for INEC to come yet INEC has not shown up but they want to go ahead with the collation of votes in all the wards in Eti-Osa without addressing those that have not voted.

“The electoral officer, Mrs Folayemi, has been telling us that they are waiting for a directive from the national body to go ahead and we are waiting,” he said.

The candidate of the PDP for the constituency also lamented that there were cases of violence, suppression, disenfranchisement and manipulation in many polling units.

“There are multiple polling units where there were suppression, violence and disruption and we have pieces of evidence and by law those polling units where those things happened, election should be cancelled.”

Another voter who spoke to Arise TV in Delta State, Happy Iwere, said electoral materials have been provided for some polling units to exercise their franchise.

“There were no materials yesterday till 6:00 pm. Later on, we saw materials passing through but none of them come to this particular ward – Ward 5 Unit 12. We were all angry both young and old that we couldn’t vote yesterday.

“Today, we are equally waiting again to see whether materials will come but we want to appeal to the authorities in charge of this election to know why they refused to bring material to this polling unit to exercise our franchise.

“If they refuse to bring electoral material to this particular ward, the people in this ward will be unhappy with the government because they were deprived of their rights to exercise their franchise.

“The government should do something about it. We want to elect leaders of our choice, we don’t want somebody to be handpicked. Materials should come and INEC should give us a reason why they refuse to provide electoral materials for us to vote,” he added.

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