RismadarVoice Reporters
October 6, 2026
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned media organisations against declaring or publishing election results based on privately collated figures during the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, gave the warning in Abuja while outlining the responsibilities of the media as preparations for the elections intensify.
Amupitan urged news organisations to establish fact-checking desks, deploy digital forensic tools and verify election-related information with the commission before publication.
He said accuracy should take precedence over the pressure to break election results ahead of official declarations.
“Resist the declaration of privately collated results, because under the Electoral Act, the authority to declare results rests exclusively with the Commission in national elections,” Amupitan said.
“It is far more important to be right than to be the first.”
The INEC chairman said the media would play a significant role in limiting misinformation, manipulated content and unverified claims capable of creating confusion during the electoral process.
His warning comes as the commission strengthens its technological infrastructure ahead of the polls.
INEC has acquired 57,000 additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, while existing machines are undergoing upgrades, including battery optimisation and biometric calibration.
The commission is also working to strengthen its INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, and other systems used in election administration.
Addressing concerns about possible technical failures, Amupitan said the inability to transmit results from an individual polling unit or group of polling units would not automatically stop electoral activities elsewhere.
He explained that the effect of any technical problem would be assessed based on the number of polling units affected and whether the outstanding votes could materially affect the outcome.
Where affected polling units would not alter the result, collation could proceed in accordance with applicable electoral rules.
However, where BVAS fails at a polling unit, and the problem cannot be resolved, the commission would apply the provisions of the Electoral Act and its election guidelines governing such situations.
INEC says the technological improvements are intended to strengthen voter accreditation, result management and the overall integrity of the 2027 electoral process.
The commission has also urged journalists and media organisations to rely on verified information and official electoral records rather than competing to publish unofficial figures during collation.
