• Says constitution guarantees citizens, media right to publish verified polling-unit results
Sunday Ehigiator
Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee public access to polling-unit results and other electoral records at the 2027 general election.
Agbakoba, in a letter, yesterday, addressed to the INEC chairman, said citizens, journalists, political parties, and election observers should be able to access, examine, and publish information contained in authentic electoral records, provided such information was reported accurately.
He stated that public access to electoral information was essential to strengthening transparency, public confidence, and accountability in the electoral process.
Titled, “Ensuring the Right to Publish INEC’s Electoral Records in Respect of the General Elections of 2027, Pursuant to Section 39 of the Constitution of Nigeria,” the letter emphasised the distinction between INEC’s statutory responsibility to declare election results and the right of citizens and the media to report results already made public.
He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the statutory authority to declare election results belongs to INEC, as the designated electoral authority in accordance with the law. That responsibility cannot be shared with citizens, political parties or the media.”
However, Agbakoba said the commission’s exclusive responsibility for formally declaring results should not be interpreted as prohibiting the publication of results announced at polling units or information contained in authentic INEC electoral records, including Forms EC8A – EC8E.
He said, “While INEC retains its exclusive statutory responsibility for the formal declaration of results, nothing in that responsibility should be understood as prohibiting citizens or the media from reporting results that have been publicly announced at polling units or from publishing information contained in authentic INEC electoral records (Forms EC8A – EC8E), provided that such reporting is accurate and does not misrepresent the official records.”
Agbakoba said concerns over the credibility of elections and the integrity of the process through which votes were recorded, transmitted, collated, and declared had heightened the need for greater transparency ahead of the 2027 polls.
He maintained that enabling independent scrutiny of polling-unit records would help address public concerns about electoral manipulation and provide verifiable evidence for assessing declared outcomes.
“This question of public access and participation has become especially important in light of the impression conveyed by INEC that the public may not have access to electoral records in the coming general elections,” he said.
He urged the commission to consider the constitutional implications of restricting the publication of electoral information, particularly under Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which guarantees freedom of expression, including the freedom to receive and impart information without interference.
According to him, access to electoral records should allow citizens not only to view information but also to discuss, analyse and report what the documents show.
Agbakoba stated, “In my view, the public availability of polling-unit result sheets through IReV would be of limited value if citizens could view the records but were discouraged or prohibited from discussing, analysing or reporting or projecting what those records show.”
He said the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) should serve as an effective transparency mechanism through which citizens, journalists, political parties, and observers could examine uploaded polling-unit result sheets, compare figures, and identify discrepancies.
Agbakoba also cited a 1984 ruling by Justice Candide Ademola Johnson of the Lagos State High Court in Nigeria Union of Journalists & 2 Ors. v. Inspector-General of Police & 3 Ors., Suit No. M/191/83, which he said affirmed the media’s right to publish election results lawfully made public.