The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations of result manipulation at Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council of the FCT.
FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aminu Idris, described the claim as false and misleading in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Online reports had alleged that the polling unit recorded 1,219 votes for a political party despite having 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters.
Idris clarified that the official result showed the party scored 121 votes, not 1,219 as circulated on social media.
He explained that a clerical error occurred when the presiding officer initially recorded 122 votes for the party after sorting and counting.
Upon tallying the total votes, she discovered an overshoot of one vote and ordered a recount in the presence of party agents.
The recount confirmed that the correct figure was 121 votes.
“She cancelled the two and inserted one to reflect 121.
”She also corrected the figure in words,” Idris stated.
He said the corrected result was uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and used for collation at ward and area council levels.
Idris noted that party agents signed the result sheet, affirming its accuracy.
He stressed that the 121 votes were consistently reflected in Form EC8B during ward collation.
According to him, INEC’s result management system makes the alleged manipulation technically impossible.
He explained that presiding officers must upload Form EC8A to IReV and enter scores directly into the BVAS device.
The BVAS system, he said, performs validation checks to ensure that total votes do not exceed the number of accredited voters.
“If 1,219 votes had been entered, BVAS would have rejected it instantly,” he said.
Idris added that over-voting is automatically flagged and cannot be finalised under the system.
He maintained that the total votes recorded were consistent with accreditation figures and collation records.
Describing IReV as a transparency tool, Idris said it mirrors results uploaded directly from polling units.
He added that BVAS-driven validation prevents over-voting and numerical manipulation at source.
Idris said the election in the FCT was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
He urged the public and media to verify information with official records before drawing conclusions.
The commissioner reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement in the electoral process.
