ADC says recent FCT, Rivers, Kano polls not foretaste of future results

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked claims of result manipulation at the Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council, following the Saturday Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Dissatisfied with the FCT elections, the National Treasurer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mani Ahmad, said the outcome of the polls and the by-elections in Kano and Rivers states could not be used to measure results in the 2027 general elections.

In a statement, yesterday, signed by its FCT Office Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu Idris, INEC said the viral figure of 1,219 votes for a political party was incorrect and misleading.

“The official result recorded and uploaded from the said polling unit shows that the political party in question scored 121 votes, not 1,219 as alleged on social media,” the statement reads.

The clarification followed reports suggesting that the polling unit, which reportedly has 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters, produced a mathematically impossible figure.

According to the statement, the discrepancy arose from a simple human error by the Presiding Officer, who recounted the ballots and initially entered “122” for the party, later correcting it to 121 after a recount in the open.

“She cancelled the ‘2’ at the end and slotted in a ‘1’ in front of the cancelled ‘2’ to make it 121. She also corrected the figures in words,” the INEC statement said.

It stressed that technological safeguards within its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal make such manipulation impossible.

Urging members of the public and media commentators to verify information with official records before drawing conclusions capable of eroding public confidence in the electoral process, the electoral body reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accountability, stating that genuine errors were investigated and corrected immediately.

FEATURING on ‘Morning Brief’, a programme on Channels Television, yesterday, Ahmad said: “If anybody expects that the results of these elections in the FCT, Rivers and Kano would be our scorecard and that nothing will change in 2027, then they will be in for a big surprise.

“Significant efforts are underway to unite the front team, integrate experienced individuals, and develop a clear strategy for winning future elections. The party and its members are dedicated to this objective.”

He was reacting to the recent FCT election and the by-elections in Kano and Rivers states.

In the FCT polls, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) clinched five area councils, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won Gwagwalada.

The APC also cleared the by-elections in Rivers and Kano states. (Guardian)