The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations that a polling unit in the Federal Capital Territory recorded more votes than registered voters during Saturday’s Area Council election, describing the claim as false and misleading.
The controversy centred on Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council, where reports circulating on social media alleged that a political party received 1,219 votes despite the unit having only 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the FCT, Aminu K. Idris, said the commission had investigated the matter and found that the discrepancy arose from a clerical error made by the Presiding Officer while entering the results.
According to INEC, after the ballots were sorted and counted at the polling unit, 122 votes were initially recorded for the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, during the final tally, the Presiding Officer noticed an overcount of one vote.
“On tallying everything, she noticed an overshoot by one (1). So, they had to recount the ballots in the open, and that was when she realised that APC should have 121 votes, not 122,” the statement explained.
INEC said the officer corrected the figure by cancelling the final digit ‘2’ and replacing it with ‘1’ to reflect 121 votes. The correction was also made in words on the result sheet to ensure consistency and transparency.
The commission stressed that the official result uploaded from the polling unit clearly shows that the party scored 121 votes, not 1,219 as alleged. It added that the accurate figure was subsequently entered into the ward collation form EC8B and used in the collation process at both ward and Area Council levels.
“The figure used for collation at the Ward and Area Council levels was 121, not 1,219 as alleged, consistent with the number entered at the polling unit,” the statement said.
INEC further maintained that its current result management architecture, including the use of the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, makes the type of manipulation alleged on social media “technically impossible in the manner described”.
The commission urged members of the public to rely on verified information from official sources and avoid spreading unsubstantiated claims that could undermine confidence in the electoral process.
