The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations of result manipulation at Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council, during Saturday’s elections.
In a statement on Tuesday, FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu Idris, described the claim as false and misleading.
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He said online reports alleged the unit recorded 1,219 votes for a party, in spite of having 345 registered and 213 accredited voters.
Mr Idris clarified that the official result showed the party scored 121 votes, not 1,219 as circulated on social media.
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“The commission categorically states that the claim of manipulation or falsification is untrue and misleading,” he said.
He explained that a clerical error occurred when the presiding officer initially recorded 122 votes for the party.
“After sorting and counting, she recorded 122 for APC.
“On tallying everything, she noticed there was an overshoot by one,” he said.
He said ballots were recounted openly, confirming the correct figure was 121, not 122.
“She cancelled the two and inserted one to reflect 121. She also corrected the figure in words,” he said.
Mr Idris said the corrected result was uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and used for collation.
He said that party agents present signed the result sheet, affirming its accuracy.
“It was the correct result that was entered into Form EC8B at ward collation,” he said.
He stressed that 121 votes, not 1,219, were used at ward and area council collation stages.
Mr Idris said the commission’s result management system made the alleged manipulation technically impossible.
He explained that presiding officers must upload Form EC8A to IReV and enter scores directly into the BVAS device.
“The BVAS system performs validation checks to ensure total votes do not exceed accredited voters,” he said.
He added that over-voting is automatically flagged and cannot be finalised.
“In this case, accredited voters were 213, and the score entered for the party was 121,” he said.
He maintained that the total votes recorded were consistent with accreditation figures and collation records.
“If 1,219 votes had been entered, BVAS would have rejected it instantly.
“The discrepancy would have been flagged at multiple collation stages. None of these occurred,” he said.
Mr Idris described IReV as a transparency tool mirroring results uploaded directly from polling units.
He said BVAS-driven validation prevents over-voting and numerical manipulation at source.
“The result relied upon for collation was consistent with BVAS data,” he said.
He added that other results circulating online were cross-checked in line with the Electoral Act before collation.
Mr Idris said the FCT election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
He urged the public and media to verify information with official records before drawing conclusions.
“INEC remains committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.
“Where genuine errors occur, they are investigated and addressed,” he said.
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He said the current allegation stemmed from a clerical error that had been corrected and did not affect the official record.
Mr Idris assured that INEC would continue safeguarding electoral integrity through technology and legal compliance.
He advised citizens to rely on verified information from official INEC communications.
“For further inquiries, please contact the INEC FCT Office,” he said.
(NAN)
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