Election Result: Confusion By Social Media with fake statistics

How social media created tension in the country while Nigerians expected poll results is documented by Francis Moses

The social media are essential to life and democracy. Building a strong democratic culture in any country may be difficult without social media. But in the context of Nigeria’s general elections, social media caused more problems as many people used the platform to issue fake results, even before the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), issued the real and authentic results.
Social media is that space, the many tools helping to amplify the voices of average Nigerians, taking ordinary voices and making them extraordinary by bringing them to homes, offices, and places most of them would have probably never reached under different circumstances.
It started out as a playground for mostly young jobless people. Today, it has become the battleground of what would arguably be the most competitive election in Nigeria’s history. How exactly are social media influencing the political space in Nigeria and how have the major stakeholders taken to it.
A free and fair election is not only about the freedom to vote and the knowledge of how to cast a vote, but also about a participatory process where voters engage in public debate and have adequate information about parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself in order to make informed choices.
In Nigeria today, social media has now become the battleground for abuse and hate speeches especially during the just concluded general elections.
For instance, this analysis and result was posted in social media, but today it is another different result all together the Presidential candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, may be cut short as the unofficial figures coming in suggest that he has failed to garner 25% of the votes in the following states; Imo, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Benue, Enugu, Cross Rivers, Akwaibom and Edo States.
According to law, the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner in the first round, as long as he gains at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states. The ruling PDP is leading in Plateau, Taraba, Lagos, Ekiti, and Ondo states, while the races in Oyo, Kwara and Kogi states are too close to call.
Another online report also reported that the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan was leading in 22 States when INEC was yet to declare any official results.
Below is another terrible result posted on the social media, which no doubt, heightened tension in the country.

PDP Leads!!!!!

1) Sokoto……….APC(68%) PDP(32%)

2) Kebbi…………APC(77%) PDP(23%)

3) Niger…………APC(70%) PDP(30%)

4) Katsina………APC(80%) PDP(20%)

5) Kano………….APC(65%) PDP(35%)

6) Zamfara……..APC(40%) PDP(55%)

7) Jigawa………..APC(60%) PDP(40%)

8) Yobe…………..APC(82%) PDP(18%)

10) Borno……..APC(80%) PDP(20%)

11) Bauchi…….APC(65%) PDP(35%)

12) Gombe…….APC(55%) PDP(45%)

13) Kaduna…….APC(60%) PDP(40%)

14) Nasarawa…APC(35%) PDP(65%)

15) Fct……………APC(35%) PDP(65%)

16) Plateau……..APC(35%) PDP(65%)

17) Adamawa…APC(45%) PDP(55%)

18) Taraba……..APC(35%) PDP(65%)

19) Benue……..APC(30%) PDP (70%)

20) Kogi………..APC(45%) PDP(55%)

21) Kwara……..APC(55%) PDP(45%)

22) Oyo………..APC(40%) PDP(60%)

23) C/River……APC(23%) PDP(77%)

24) Abia………..APC(25%) PDP(75%)

25) Edo………….APC(25%) PDP(75%)

26) Ekiti…………APC(35%) PDP(65%)

27) Ogun……….APC(25%) PDP(75%)

28) Ondo……….APC(30%) PDP(70%)

29) Delta……….APC(25%) PDP(75%)

30) Imo………….APC(30%) PDP(70%)

31) Osun………..APC(40%) PDP(60%)

32) Enugu………APC(20%) PDP(80%)

33)Lagos……..APC(30%) PDP(70%)

34) A/Ibom……..APC(12%) PDP(88%)

35) Rivers………APC(15%) PDP(85%)

36) Bayelsa…….APC(10%) PDP(90,)

However, this result did not tally with the actual result issued by INEC boss. It could be recalled that the Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, (PDPPCO).Femi Fani-Kayode, accused the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) of posting fake results of the presidential elections, using phony social media. He noted that only INEC enjoys the statutory mandate to release election results.

“We should all patiently wait for INEC to release the official results of all the elections and until then, we call on our supporters and party members to hold their heads up high, to remain confident and strong and to hold their peace,” he stated.

However, the APC is probably the biggest beneficiary of the value social media brings to the table. Long before the party was formed in February 2013, young Nigerians used to congregate on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to express their anger against the government.

It could also be recalled that they used the platforms to organize protests like “Enough Is Enough” in April 2010 to campaign for the then- Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to be made Acting President, a move that eventually led to the “doctrine of necessity” that got the National Assembly to name him Acting President.

The force of Nigeria’s young people rose to a crescendo with the movement in January 2012. That anger has since been sustained and indeed spread to other young people who would ordinarily not be interested in politics.

Against the backdrop of these issues on fake result being published on the social network the Presidency and the INEC, urged Nigerians to disregard election results being published in the social media.

Describing the results as fake, INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said the media would be part of the result collation. The venue of the collation, according to Jega, is the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, he explained that, while it was not an offence for Nigerians to share scores by contestants among themselves as obtained during collation at the state level, it is an offence to use such scores to declare winner of the elections.

In his words, “Where the problem emerges is when you begin to declare a winner by virtue of the number of votes you have got. So, people have to be very careful of making projections or declaring candidates as winners, based on the results that they have received. It is only INEC that is supposed to collate the information that they got, and then make a final declaration.

“By the time you start getting some results and you make projections and announce who the winner is, obviously you are falling foul of the provisions of the law.

“In 2011, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was able to declare the presidential election results within 48 hours. And we have been working assiduously to be able to beat that record. So what we are working hard to do this time is to be able to declare the results within 48 hours or much less than the period we did it in 2011.”

Jega also debunked insinuations that the Commission was under pressure to declare the election inconclusive, saying: “We are not under any pressure to declare the result inconclusive. At any rate, who will be interested in declaring the election inconclusive?”

Admitting that the use of card readers was less than perfect, he, however, noted that the step had added efficiency to the elections.

According to him, the percentage of the malfunctioned card readers was about 0.25 per cent, which is too insignificant to warrant any change of plan.

The INEC helmsman also confirmed that the APC had lodged formal complaints to the Commission requesting cancellation of the election in Rivers State.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has urged Nigerians and members of the PDP to disregard results being posted on the social media.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, writing on his Facebook account, said he had identified Ekiti as the only state where INEC announced official result, saying Jonathan emerged winner.

“Our numerous supporters (both home and abroad) are reaching out to us and requesting that we should say something. We can assure you that we are on top of everything. INEC has already addressed the issue of viral ‘opposition-sponsored fake results, that they should be ignored.”