The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has addressed concerns over the timing of the result declaration for the 2023 presidential election, which took place eighteen months ago.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, was announced as the winner with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi, and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The result declaration, made by INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu at approximately 2 a.m. on March 1, 2023, raised questions among some Nigerians about why it was done during the early hours rather than in the daytime.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, explained that Nigeria is treated as a single constituency during presidential elections, making the collation of results a time-consuming process.
He emphasized that the electoral process involves waiting for results from polling units, wards, local governments, and states, all of which must be presented at the national level in Abuja.
“The Chairman had to wait for 36 returning officers, including those from far locations such as Sokoto and Maiduguri, to present their results as mandated by law,” Oyekanmi stated.
He further clarified that neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act stipulates a specific time for announcing election results.
“In a presidential election, the country is treated as one constituency. Results are declared at polling units and then collated at the ward, local government, and state levels before being presented in Abuja to the Chief Electoral Commissioner. People didn’t understand this and criticised the 2 a.m. announcement,” he said.
Oyekanmi also highlighted that the INEC Chairman must personally interview the returning officers, questioning them and potentially sending them back if their reports are unsatisfactory.
He added: “Only after accepting all figures from the returning officers and the FCT can results be collated and announced. The delay led to claims that we declared results in the middle of the night.”
Referencing a similar occurrence in 2015, he noted: “Prof. Attahiru Jega declared the 2015 results around 4 a.m. The constitution does not prescribe a specific time for declaring election results.”
