Amidst anxiety, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded arrangement to commence collation and announcement of results of Saturday’s elections on Monday, February 25, 2019.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu who opened the collation centre on Sunday also adjourned sitting till 11am on Monday after setting the ground rules.
The collation and announcement of results are expected to start Monday, with results coming from INEC offices from the 38 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
All the agents of registered political parties were represented at the opening of the centre.
According to Prof. Yakubu, the INEC office in Ekiti State, which became the first state to have completed the collation of the presidential election result, will make its presentation.
Yakubu said the collation officer for Ekiti State was on his way toAbuja.
The INEC chair explained that there was no cancellation of elections in any part of the country.
Addressing Journalists on the conduct of the elections, Yakubu said: “ Almost all the states have concluded RA collation and are now collating results at LGA level. Some have commenced state-level collation.
“We expect the State Collation Officers for Presidential Election (SCOPE) to start arriving at the National Collation Centre later today or early morning tomorrow. Accordingly, the National Collation Centre will be officially declared open today at 6pm. Collation will commence as soon as the results arrive from the states.”
The INEC chief also reiterated that nobody, except the commission, has the right by the law to declare election results. He cautioned all stakeholders to be circumspect in this regard.
Yakubu said: “Already, some PU results are in the public domain. Let me once again reiterate the position of the law that only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can tally figures, announce results and declare winners in our general election.
“I urge all stakeholders to strictly adhere to the provisions of the law and be circumspect in this respect. We are doing everything possible to ensure the speedy collation of results and the declaration of winners for the elections conducted yesterday.”
