RismadarVoice Reporters
October 8, 2026
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has declared its intention to independently collect, verify and publish polling-unit results during the 2027 general elections, despite warnings from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against unauthorised collation and dissemination of election results.
The opposition party maintained that while INEC has the constitutional and statutory responsibility to announce official election results and declare winners, political parties and citizens also have the right to document and share figures obtained from polling units.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said its decision was aimed at promoting transparency, accountability and public access to electoral information.
According to the party, its polling agents will record results announced at individual polling units, while designated party structures will independently compile and verify the figures before making them available to the public.
The ADC argued that independently documenting election results does not amount to assuming INEC’s statutory powers or interfering with the commission’s responsibility to determine official outcomes.
“We recognise INEC’s responsibility to make official declarations of results and to declare winners of elections,” the party stated.
It maintained that this responsibility should not prevent political parties, election observers or citizens from collecting and sharing publicly available electoral information.
The party further argued that the constitutional right to freedom of expression extends to the collection and dissemination of election-related information, provided such activities comply with applicable laws.
Its position followed comments attributed to INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, cautioning against the independent collation and publication of election results outside the commission’s established procedures.
INEC has maintained that it remains the legally recognised authority responsible for collating official results and declaring winners in elections conducted under its supervision.
Responding to the warning, the ADC said it would ensure that figures published through its independent monitoring arrangements were clearly identified as party-collated results rather than official declarations.
The party also indicated that its verification process would involve comparing figures obtained from polling units to identify possible discrepancies.
The development highlights differing interpretations of the distinction between independent election monitoring and the statutory collation of official results ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While INEC retains responsibility for official declarations, the ADC insists that independently recording and publishing polling-unit figures is a legitimate part of electoral participation and public scrutiny.
The legal distinction between publishing independently collected figures and exercising statutory collation powers remains central to the disagreement.
