INEC Dismisses Claim of Result Manipulation in FCT Polling Unit
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed as false and misleading a claim circulating online that Kuroko Health Centre Polling Unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), recorded 1,219 votes for a political party despite having only 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters during the recent Area Council election.
In a statement issued by INEC–FCT, the Commission clarified that the allegation stemmed from a clerical error made by the Presiding Officer while entering the party’s score on Form EC8A at the polling unit.
According to the Commission, after sorting and counting the ballots, the party was initially recorded as having scored 122 votes. However, during reconciliation, it was discovered that the total votes exceeded the ballots by one. A recount was subsequently conducted openly at the polling unit, and the correct figure was confirmed to be 121 votes.
INEC explained that in correcting the mistake, the Presiding Officer cancelled the last digit “2” and inserted “1” to accurately reflect 121 votes. The correction was also made in words on the result sheet. Party agents present at the polling unit witnessed the process and signed the result sheet to affirm its accuracy.
The Commission stressed that the official result uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal clearly shows that the party scored 121 votes, not 1,219 as alleged on social media. It added that the same figure was subsequently entered into the Ward Collation Form (EC8B) and used consistently at both the Ward and Area Council collation levels.
INEC further stated that its result management framework makes the alleged manipulation technically impossible. Under the current system, Presiding Officers are required to upload an image of the completed Form EC8A to the IReV portal and enter each party’s scores directly into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device.
The BVAS device, the Commission noted, performs automatic validation checks to ensure that total votes entered do not exceed the number of accredited voters and that all figures are mathematically consistent. Any attempt at over-voting is automatically flagged and cannot be finalised.
In the case of the Kuroko polling unit, INEC said the number of accredited voters was 213, the score entered for the party concerned was 121, and the total votes recorded were consistent with the accreditation figures.
The Commission emphasised that if a figure of 1,219 votes had been entered, the BVAS device would have immediately rejected it, the total votes cast would have reflected the inflated number, and the discrepancy would have been flagged at multiple stages of collation.
Reaffirming its commitment to transparency and electoral integrity, INEC urged the public to disregard unfounded claims and rely only on verified information from official sources.