The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has released
Supplementary regulations and guidelines for the review of election results.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee of INEC, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, the provision in Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 empowers the commission to review declarations and returns in elections that are not made voluntarily or contrary to the law, regulations, and guidelines.
Olumekun said there have been many interpretations of Section 65 of the Electoral Act, making it necessary for INEC to use its powers under the law to issue Regulations, Guidelines, or Manuals to give effect to the provisions of the Act and administer it.
“Clear procedure and timelines have now been provided, the details of which are contained in Supplementary No.1 to the main Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2022.
“As approved by the Commission, the supplementary regulations and guidelines have been uploaded to the Commission’s website and other platforms for public information,” he said.
The supplementary regulations and guidelines signed by the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu reads: “if within two days of the declaration of the result and/or return of a candidate as the winner of an election, the Chairman of the Commission receives a report from the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State where the election took place or a person acting ad interim in that capacity, or an official of the Commission directly involved in the supervision of the said election not below the rank of a National Electoral Commissioner that (a) the declaration and/ or return was not made voluntarily or (b) was made contrary to the Provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election, the Commission shall immediately commence the review of the declaration and return.
“The Report shall: be in writing or as otherwise acceptable to the Commission; contain specific evidence to support that the declaration and return were made involuntarily or contrary to the law, regulations and guidelines for the election; be submitted confidentially directly to the Chairman of the Commission. The Chairman of the Commission shall, within 24 hours of receiving the report, convene an emergency Executive Session of the Commission to consider the report.Where the Commission cannot meet within 24 hours of the report, and the Chairman of the Commission determines that there is prima facie evidence in support of the report, he/she shall proceed to establish a review committee in line with Clause 5 of these Supplementary Regulations and Guidelines.
“The Chairman of the Commission shall report the establishment of the review committee to the next meeting of the Commission for ratification.
“If the Commission determines that there is prima facie evidence in support of a report to review a declaration and return, it shall: establish a Committee of National Commissioners consisting of a Chairperson and four members to be called “Election Review Committee” to investigate and submit its report(s) on the constituency/constituencies on dispute.
“Ensure that the National Commissioner (s) who made the Report is/are not included in the Committee. Give the Committee a maximum of four days to complete the investigation and submit its report to the Commission.
“The Commission may set up one Election Review Committee to renew the declaration and return of more than one constituency, or as it may otherwise deem fit.
“The Election Review Committee may, with the approval of the Chairman of the Commission, co-opt any staff of the Commission as a support staff for the investigation in whatever capacity it determines.
“Shall call for evidence or witnesses as it deems fit from staff and officials of the Commission, or persons outside the Commission, in its review. Shall conduct the review at any location(s) that it considers appropriate.
“The Election Review Committee shall report its findings to the Commission in writing or as otherwise acceptable to the Commission within six days following the declaration and return of the election in question.
“The report containing its findings shall make clear recommendations to the Commission, which shall include whether to rerun the election in its entirety, conduct a supplementary election in some parts of the constituency (polling units), alter the declaration and return in any particular manner, or that no further action be taken. The recommendations may also include any other action to be taken by the Commission.
“While the review of a declaration and return is ongoing and it becomes necessary to publish the election result, the Commission shall indicate against that constituency “Under Review”.
“The Commission shall not fail to commence and shall not discontinue a review of a declaration and return except by a legitimate court of competent jurisdiction order.
“On receipt of the report of the Election Review Committee, the Commission shall immediately convene an emergency Executive Session to consider the report.
“Where the Commission determines that no further action shall be taken on the declaration and return, or modifies the declaration and return, it shall immediately publish the election result accordingly.
“Where the Commission decides to conduct a rerun or supplementary election in the constituency, it shall immediately set a date for the election and notify the voters, political parties that contested the earlier election and other stakeholders.”The rerun or supplementary election shall be conducted per the extant Electoral Act, Regulations, and Guidelines.
The National Commissioner also said that as of Wednesday, INEC had received 12 more applications for registration as political parties, bringing the total number of applications to 122.
These include: Democratic Alternative Party (DAP), I Love Nigeria (ILN), Integrity Party of Nigeria(IPN), National Youth Progressive Party(NYPP), Providence Peoples Congress(PPC), Democratic Nigeria (DN), and United Nigeria Development Party(UNDP).
Others are Alliance for a United Nigeria (AUN), African Independent Alliance (AIA), Greater Nigeria Movement(GNM), African Liberation Party(ALP) and Nigeria Farmers & Traders Progressive Party(NFTPP).
“On Monday last week (23rd June 2025), the Commission announced that it had received applications from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties. We also assured Nigerians that we would give regular updates on the matter. The Commission is processing these applications transparently and in fairness to all applicants.
“Meanwhile, the Commission has received 12 more applications for registration as political parties as of yesterday, Wednesday 2nd July 2025, bringing the total number of applications to 122. The list of the new applications by names of associations, their acronyms, addresses, and interim Chairmen and Secretaries has been uploaded to our website and other platforms for public information. We will respond to these applicants per the Electoral Act and Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
“However, the Commission notes that one association has already changed its interim Secretary due to defection to another association. To facilitate the consideration of these applications, the Commission appeals to associations to maintain consistency of their proposed leadership and addresses so that they do not, by their actions, cause a delay to the timely consideration of their applications,” he added.
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