FCT Polls: INEC disclaims reports of vote allocation to APC in Kwali

2026-02-24 - 18:37

By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has dismissed viral reports alleging the illegal allocation of over 1,000 votes to the All Progressives Congress APC at a polling unit in the Kwali Area Council during last Saturday’s FCT Area Council election. In a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja, the Resident Electoral Commissioner REC for the FCT, Aminu Idris, described the allegations as “untrue and misleadiAmin. The controversy centered on the Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, where social media reports suggested the APC recorded 1,219 votes despite the unit having only 345 registered voters and 213 accredited persons. Investigation by the Commission revealed that the discrepancy was due to a clerical error by a Presiding Officer. According to the REC, the officer initially recorded 122 votes for the APC but discovered an overshoot of one vote during a recount. To rectify the error, she “cancelled the ‘2’ at the end and slotted in a ‘1’ in front of the cancelled ‘2’ to make it 121.” This manual adjustment was subsequently misinterpreted by online observers as the number 1,219. “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,” Idris stated. He further clarified that the current result management architecture makes such manipulation “technically impossible,” noting that the BVAS device features internal validation checks that instantly reject any entry exceeding the total number of accredited voters. While reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to transparency, Idris noted that the “IReV portal is a transparency tool that mirrors results uploaded directly from polling units,” and that the figure of 121 remained consistent throughout the Ward and Area Council collation stages. He urged the public and media commentators to verify information against official records to avoid eroding public confidence, maintaining that the FCT election was conducted in “substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.”