ADC says it will publish verified polling-unit results during the 2027 elections but acknowledges INEC's authority to declare official results and winners.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says it will independently collate and publish polling-unit results during the 2027 general elections, insisting that doing so is within its constitutional rights.
The opposition party was responding to a warning attributed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, against sharing privately collated election results.
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In a statement on Thursday, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party would document results through its polling agents and make verified figures available to the public.
"The ADC will share our collated results with the public. Our agents will document results, our structures will collate them, and we will communicate verified figures to the public, clearly identifying their source and status," the statement said.
The party argued that its proposed action was protected by the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
"We are aware of our rights to freedom of expression under the Constitution. We are also aware of the limitations associated with those rights. And we hold that our rights to collate and share election results are not abrogated by any of the limitation clauses," it said.
The ADC acknowledged that INEC has the statutory authority to announce official election results and declare winners but maintained that this did not prevent political parties and citizens from gathering and sharing election information.
What the law says
Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees freedom of expression, including the right to receive and impart information.
The Electoral Act also provides procedures for counting, recording, collating and declaring election results.
Under the electoral framework, polling agents are entitled to receive copies of polling-unit results in accordance with the law.
Political parties can use these records to monitor the collation process and compare figures with those announced by electoral officials.
However, independently compiled results do not replace the official collation and declaration procedures prescribed by law.
The ADC did not explain how it would verify the figures before publication or address discrepancies between its records and those released by INEC.
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