INEC Cannot Bar Publication Of Polling Unit Results, Says Agbakoba

A former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot prevent Nigerians and the media from publishing election results already announced at polling units.

Agbakoba argued that doing so would violate the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression.

The INEC chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), on 24th September, 2026, while addressing the 24th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2026) in Enugu, warned media organisations against privately publishing or amplifying collated election results ahead of the Commission’s official declarations.

Amupitan argued that such publications could confuse voters and undermine confidence in the electoral process.

He also urged newsrooms to strengthen fact-checking and digital verification to combat election-related misinformation and AI-generated deepfakes.

But in his open letter dated 12 October 2026, to INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), Agbakoba cited a 1984 Lagos State High Court judgment that upheld the media’s right to publish lawfully obtained election results.

He argued INEC’s exclusive authority to declare final results does not give the commission a monopoly over electoral information.

Agbakoba urged INEC to ensure public access to polling-unit result sheets ahead of the 2027 general elections, including documents uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV), so citizens, journalists, political parties and election observers can independently verify and report the figures.

His intervention comes amid concerns about the transparency of the electoral process, particularly the recording, transmission, collation and declaration of results.

Agbakoba argued that Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees the right to receive and impart information and also supports citizens’ and journalists’ ability to communicate accurate results already made public.

He maintained that publishing figures from authentic polling-unit result sheets would not usurp INEC’s statutory responsibility to declare final results.

In support of his position, Agbakoba cited the 1984 case of Nigeria Union of Journalists and Others v. Inspector-General of Police and Others, Suit No. M/191/83.

In that case, the Lagos State High Court ruled against a directive restricting the publication of election results that had not been officially released by the then Federal Electoral Commission.

Agbakoba said the judgment distinguished between the electoral authority’s formal declaration of final results and the publication of preliminary results already announced at polling centres.

He argued that the principle remains relevant under the Electoral Act, 2026, and should guide INEC’s approach to public access to electoral records during the upcoming elections.

“Access should be meaningful, not merely nominal,” he said, warning that allowing Nigerians to view polling-unit result sheets while discouraging them from discussing, analysing or reporting the figures would defeat the purpose of transparency.

Agbakoba also called on INEC to establish clear procedures for promptly publishing verified polling-unit results on IReV and resolving discrepancies between uploaded result sheets and figures recorded during collation.

He proposed that, where feasible, the commission set clear benchmarks to ensure verified results are available within two hours of the close of the polls or the completion of counting at the relevant stage.

The former NBA president said timely access to verifiable records would allow citizens and political parties to independently compare results, identify inconsistencies, and assess whether final declarations reflected the votes recorded at polling units.

He added that transparent publication of electoral records could build public confidence, reduce avoidable disputes and limit litigation arising from conflicting accounts of election results.

Agbakoba stressed that opening electoral records to independent scrutiny would strengthen INEC’s credibility rather than undermine its authority.

He urged the commission to issue clear guidelines on publishing and responsibly reporting election results ahead of the 2027 polls.