We published 2019 elections results in one week, INEC replies critics

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it published the 2019 general elections results on its website a week after the announcement.

INEC, which was responding to contrary views in some quarters, said it published the results long after the elections, said results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections were published on its website, www.inec.ng.org early enough.

According to Section 71 of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended, INEC, “shall cause to be posted on its notice board and website a notice showing the candidates at the election and their scores, and the person declared as elected or returned at the election”.

However, there have been concerns as to whether the Commission has fulfilled this legal obligation or not, long after the conduct of the February/ March general elections.

Idayat Hassan, director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), while expressing reservations on why the Commission has not published results of the recent polls said, “Unfortunately, INEC neglected to make public, detailed breakdown of the election results—including voided votes. The trend is worrisome”.

Hassan noted that, “One of the most noticeable and avoidable blunders INEC has made following the 2019 election, is its refusal to publish detailed election results on its website.

“Much like it did in 2007 general elections, INEC has only published national-level totals for 2019 presidential elections, choosing to keep sub-national results data”.

Again, the CDD director, while presenting a post mortem report on 2019 general elections, urged INEC to transparently and promptly publish, via its website and through civil society organisations, official results for all election contests, showing a full and accurate breakdown of figures down to polling unit level.

But reacting to the concerns, Rotimi Kayode, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, questioned which other results the Commission is being demanded to publish other than what is already on its official website.

Kayode told BusinessDay that the results are published with breakdown state by state and encouraged the public to visit the website and click on www.inec.ng.org to see the published results.

“Have you gone to the website and the results of the 2019 general elections are not there? So, when people say we have not published the results, I just wonder. We have published the report with the breakdown, state by state, a week after results were announced, so what exactly are they looking for?

“If you go to INEC website, the results of 2019 presidential election, Senatorial and House of Representatives are all there. But if you are looking for a pulling unit in Bayelsa that one is not there. So it is a different process.

“The result of 2019 presidential election is on the website. This is what the constitution asks us to do and we have done so, people are just playing to the gallery. If you want to prove me wrong, go to the website click on www.inec.ng.orgwhen the thing comes on go to the elections click on it, there will be a drop down and you will see the results of the presidential election, all the 73 political parties and the person that won and all the scores that each of them has”, he explained.

When BusinessDay visited the website, it saw the results of the presidential elections with scores by individual candidates and their parties without state by state breakdown.

Also seen were the results of the Senatorial and House of Representatives elections with only candidates that won in each of 109 Districts and 360 Constituencies.

James Kwen, Abuja