By kawaekwune Jeffrey
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it has not received any governorship election results from the 18 local government areas of Edo State, warning social media users against announcing unauthorized “results.”
In a statement on September 21, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, Mr Anugbum Onuoha, cautioned that only the commission’s returning officer is legally authorized to declare official results. He made this clear during an interview with Channels Television monitored by The New Diplomat.
It would be recalled that the people of Edo State went to the polls to cast their votes on Saturday in order to elect a new governor to succeed the outgoing Godwin Obaseki, whose term ends in November.
Anugbum Onuoha stated: “I cannot categorically tell you when we will announce the results in the state. As they come, we will announce. For now, no results yet from any of the local governments.”
He went on to address the misinformation circulating online, saying,
“Those who are publishing results, it is not their duty to announce results. INEC has not announced results. I am not even the returning officer for the state. The returning officer will announce the results. But I am surprised with what I see on social media. That is not the correct position of the commission.”
He further stressed: “Nobody has the capacity to do that. The law is clear on who can announce the results. So, they should desist.”
Meanwhile, INEC has uploaded over 90% of the polling unit results to itsl electronic portal where citizens can have access to the unfolding political outcome.
