2027: ADC Defies INEC, Vows to Collate, Publish Polling Unit Results

2027: ADC Defies INEC, Vows to Collate, Publish Polling Unit Results

By Our Reporter

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has declared that it will independently document, collate and share polling-unit results with the public during the 2027 General Elections, despite a warning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the dissemination of privately collated results.

The party said its decision was based on what it described as the constitutional right of citizens and political parties to collect and share information, including election results.

The ADC’s position was contained in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in response to the recent warning by INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, against the sharing of results collated independently of the commission.

The party said it recognised INEC’s statutory responsibility to collate and declare official election results and announce winners, but argued that such responsibility did not prevent citizens or political parties from collecting and sharing polling-unit figures.

“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 party said.

The opposition party said its agents would document results at polling units, while its structures would collate the figures and communicate verified results to the public.

“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,” it stated.

The party stressed that its planned publication of polling-unit results should not be interpreted as an attempt to usurp INEC’s constitutional mandate.

According to the ADC, while INEC remains the only body responsible for making official declarations and announcing winners, that mandate “cannot reasonably abrogate” the right of citizens to independently collect, collate and disseminate election information.

The development sets the stage for a potential fresh debate between political parties and the electoral commission over the boundaries between INEC’s exclusive authority to declare election results and the rights of political actors to independently collate and publish results during the 2027 polls.