To address this issue, it is important to understand the election results management process. Election results are first announced at the polling unit level and immediately made public through verbal declaration and the posting of result sheets. The purpose of this public announcement is to promote transparency. Once results are announced at the polling unit, they become public information.
Furthermore, the introduction of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was designed to deepen transparency in the electoral process. The objective is to make results accessible to citizens and stakeholders, enabling them to follow the results management process while reducing opportunities for manipulation during collation. In that context, the media can report results that have already been officially announced at polling units because those results are already in the public domain.
This is particularly important given the widespread concerns and distrust surrounding the results management process. Historically, the collation stage has often been viewed as the weakest link in the electoral process and the point at which political actors may seek to compromise outcomes. Media and citizen oversight therefore serve several important purposes:
1. It protects INEC from political pressure.
There is no doubt that electoral management bodies can come under pressure from powerful political interests. When results have already been publicly announced, documented, and aggregated by independent observers and media organizations, it becomes more difficult for any attempt to alter them to succeed. Public awareness of the results strengthens INEC’s ability to resist undue pressure and uphold the integrity of the process.
2. It strengthens the integrity and credibility of the electoral process.
Independent reporting, monitoring, and aggregation of officially announced polling unit results create an additional layer of transparency and accountability. This helps build public confidence in the process and discourages attempts at manipulation.
At the same time, it is important to distinguish between announcing results and declaring a winner. INEC is the constitutional authority empowered to declare election results and return a candidate as duly elected. Declaration goes beyond publishing polling unit outcomes; it is the formal legal pronouncement that a candidate has won an election and has been returned as the winner. Until INEC makes that declaration, no candidate can legally be regarded as having won the election.
However, reporting or aggregating results that have already been officially announced at polling units does not amount to declaring a winner. The media may report and analyze such publicly available results, provided this is done responsibly, accurately, and within established professional and ethical standards.
That said, media organizations must remain conscious of the realities of the results management process. During collation, several factors can affect the final outcome. INEC may cancel results where there is confirmed over-voting, while adjustments may also arise from polling units where elections did not hold, were postponed, or were disrupted by violence or other incidents. These considerations are taken into account during the collation process and can ultimately influence the final results.
This is precisely why all actors, including the media, should avoid declaring winners before INEC completes the collation process and makes its official declaration. Reporting results that have already been announced by INEC at the polling unit, ward, local government, or state level is entirely different from declaring an electoral outcome. The former promotes transparency and public oversight, while the latter remains the exclusive constitutional responsibility of INEC.
Therefore, media organizations can responsibly share and aggregate officially announced results as part of their public information role, but they must be careful not to present such reporting as a final declaration of the election outcome. Until INEC officially declares and returns a winner, all reported figures should be understood as part of an ongoing results management process.
Ultimately, all actors, including the media, civil society organizations, and observers, must operate in accordance with the principles of integrity, professionalism, accuracy, and ethical conduct. The publication of false, inaccurate, or misleading results can undermine public trust and attract legitimate institutional sanctions.
However, where the media responsibly reports and analyzes results that have already been officially announced by INEC, such reporting enhances transparency, strengthens public oversight, and contributes to democratic accountability without encroaching on INEC’s exclusive constitutional mandate to declare and return a winner.
Samson Itodo is the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa
