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- Persons charged with falsifying election results or announcing false results risk three years imprisonment.
Authorities in Nigeria are warning against fake or unofficial publication of election results on social media and other web channels warning that offenders could face prosecution.
Nigeria went to the polls on Saturday and there has been varying election results posted online even while the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was yet to officially declared results.
The Nigeria Police Force in a statement over the weekend said the spreading or circulation of alleged/fake election results on social media and other news platforms is contrary to the policy and guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
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Force Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, warned that offenders risk jail terms even as he stated that “the police has perceived this trend as a calculated attempt to heat up the polity and possibly create post elections chaos. We regard this as a disservice, unpatriotic, and a disinformation.”
3 years imprisonment for announcing false results
Unauthorized or false declaration of election results are codified as electoral offences in sections 114 to 129 of the Electoral Act 2022. Any person charged with falsifying election results or announcing false results risks three years imprisonment.
“The NPF hereby warns those who are spreading these alleged/fake election results to desist from such mischievous acts and wait patiently for INEC’s official results, which are authentic and tenable.
“The NPF urges Nigerians to remain calm, and go about their lawful engagements, while those who are billed to go to the polls today are requested to be orderly and law-abiding as we have re-enforced our security strategies for the smooth conclusion of the 2023 general elections,” the police spokesman stated.
Also, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has urged the media and Nigerians not to depend on fake news feeds.
“You don’t have to post election results without checking the source and the best way and most authentic is to hear from INEC. The media houses should abide by the National Broadcasting Commission’s regulations regarding the announcement of election results.
“What we have noticed in the past 20 years is that election violence does not start during voting but it is at the point of collation or announcement of results that violence starts.
“Fake news is a fuel of this kind of violence because If you post a fake results from a particular unit and it is at variance with the authentic result by INEC, that would lead to violence,” Mohammed said just before the polls opened in Kwara state, central Nigeria.
