INEC dismisses claim of vote manipulation in FCT polling unit

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted allegations circulating online that results were manipulated at Kuroko Health Centre Polling Unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council, during Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the FCT, Aminu K. Idris, the commission described as “untrue and misleading” claims that a political party scored 1,219 votes at the polling unit despite having only 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters.

INEC explained that the controversy arose from an error made by the Presiding Officer while recording the party’s score. According to the commission, the officer initially entered 122 votes for the party but, after discovering an overcount of one vote during a recount conducted in the open, corrected the figure to 121. The alteration, INEC said, involved cancelling the final digit and inserting the correct one, with corresponding adjustments made in words.

“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 commission stated, adding that the figure can be verified on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV). It noted that party agents present at the polling unit signed the result sheet and that the corrected figure of 121 was used during collation at both the ward and area council levels.

INEC further maintained that the alleged manipulation was technically impossible under its current result management system. It explained that presiding officers are required to upload images of completed Form EC8A to the IReV portal and enter results into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which automatically validates entries to ensure votes do not exceed the number of accredited voters.

In the case of the Kuroko polling unit, the commission said 213 voters were accredited and 121 votes were entered for the party in question, consistent with accreditation data. It added that if 1,219 votes had been entered, the BVAS device would have rejected the figure and flagged it during collation.

INEC reaffirmed that the FCT Area Council election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and its guidelines. The commission urged the public and media to verify information with official records before drawing conclusions that could undermine confidence in the electoral process.

It also reiterated its commitment to transparency and accountability, stating that while genuine errors are investigated and corrected, the current allegation stemmed from a corrected clerical mistake and did not affect the officially declared results.