Why We Declared 2023 Presidential Poll Results at 2 a.m. — INEC

• INEC clarifies that the presidential election results were announced at 2 a.m. due to lengthy collation processes from across Nigeria
• Chief Press Secretary Rotimi Oyekanmi emphasizes that there is no constitutional time limit for announcing election results in Nigeria

Eighteen months after the 2023 presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) clarified why the election results were declared in March 1, 2023.

President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). However, the timing of the announcement by INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made around 2 a.m., sparked concerns among some Nigerians.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, explained that during presidential elections, the country is treated as a single constituency, making collating results from across the nation lengthy. He emphasized that the results must be gathered from polling units, wards, local governments, and states, and then presented at the national level in Abuja.

Oyekanmi stated, “The Chairman had to wait for 36 returning officers, including those from distant locations like Sokoto and Maiduguri, to present their results as required by law.” He also clarified that no specific time is mandated by the Constitution or the Electoral Act for announcing election results.

“In a presidential election, results are declared at polling units, collated at the ward, local government, and state levels, and then presented to the Chief Electoral Commissioner in Abuja. People didn’t understand this process and criticized the 2 a.m. announcement,” he said.

Oyekanmi further highlighted that the INEC Chairman must personally review and verify the reports of the returning officers, questioning them and potentially sending them back if their reports are unsatisfactory. Only after all figures from the returning officers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are accepted can the final results be collated and announced. The delay in this process led to claims that the results were declared “in the middle of the night.”

He noted that a similar situation occurred in 2015 when Prof. Attahiru Jega declared the election results around 4 a.m., emphasizing that there is no constitutionally prescribed time for declaring election results.