Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, has insisted that journalists have the legal right to publish election results, stressing that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, alone has the exclusive authority to formally declare the outcome of an election.
Agbakoba argued that the distinction between publishing and declaring results was crucial ahead of the 2027 general election, adding that journalists could broadcast figures announced by electoral officers at polling units without waiting for INEC’s final declaration.
He made the remarks while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Wednesday.
The former NBA president cited a 1984 judgment delivered by Justice Cante Johnson in a case involving the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and the then Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, now INEC, as the legal basis for his position.
“Already in 1984, Justice Cante Johnson, in the case concerning NUJ and FEDECO, now INEC, decided exactly what I’m saying, that journalists have a right to publish results,” he said.
Agbakoba explained that election results pass through several stages, from polling units to wards, local government areas, states and the national collation centre, before the final announcement.
He maintained that journalists were entitled to report results once they had been read by the presiding officers at polling units.
“If I’m standing at the polling unit, and the presiding officer reads the results. He has read it. I can broadcast it,” he stated.
Agbakoba explained that election results pass through several stages, from polling units to wards, local government areas, states and the national collation centre, before the final announcement.
He maintained that journalists were entitled to report results once they had been read by the presiding officers at polling units.
“If I’m standing at the polling unit, and the presiding officer reads the results. He has read it. I can broadcast it,” he stated.
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