The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed allegations of result manipulation at the Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council, following Saturday’s Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu K. Idris, the commission described as false and misleading the viral claim that a political party polled 1,219 votes at the unit.
According to INEC, the officially recorded and uploaded result from the polling unit showed that the party secured 121 votes, not 1,219 as circulated on social media.
The clarification came amid reports questioning how the polling unit, with 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters, could produce what observers described as a mathematically impossible figure.
INEC explained that the confusion stemmed from a human error made by the presiding officer during result documentation.
After an initial ballot count, the officer entered “122” for the party but later conducted a recount in the presence of party agents and observers, which confirmed the correct figure as 121.
To effect the correction, the officer cancelled the last digit and inserted the accurate figure, also amending the result written in words to reflect 121.
The commission stressed that its technological safeguards, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, make large-scale manipulation of figures impossible.
It noted that the number of accredited voters stood at 213 and that the total votes recorded were consistent with the accreditation data captured by the BVAS.
INEC further stated that any attempt to input an inflated figure such as 1,219 votes would have been automatically flagged and rejected by the system.
Reassuring residents of the FCT, the electoral body maintained that results used for collation at both ward and area council levels were consistent with BVAS records and complied substantially with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
It urged members of the public and media commentators to verify claims with official sources before drawing conclusions capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accountability, noting that while genuine clerical errors may occur, they are promptly detected and corrected, and do not alter the officially declared results.
