Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has urged Nigerian media organisations to consider approaching the courts to clarify the extent of their constitutional right to obtain, publish and disseminate election results.
Agbakoba raised the issue at the 10th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.
The conference was themed “2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities.”
Agbakoba’s argument centres on the relationship between electoral legislation and the constitutional protection of freedom of expression.
While the Electoral Act assigns the Independent National Electoral Commission and designated officials responsibility for formally announcing results at different levels of an election, Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution protects the right to receive and impart ideas and information.
The former NBA President argued that the precise interaction between those two legal positions should be tested judicially rather than simply assumed.
His position does not mean that private media declarations would automatically acquire the legal status of official INEC results.
Rather, the legal question is whether journalists and media organisations that lawfully obtain authentic polling information may independently collate and communicate those figures as part of their constitutional role.
Agbakoba also referred to exit polls and the broader responsibility of the press to provide election-related information, arguing that the Nigerian media should determine through the courts the boundaries of its rights before the 2027 general elections.
The proposal could become particularly important because election reporting has changed substantially with technology.
Polling-unit results, photographs of result sheets, party collation centres, citizen-observer reports and information uploaded electronically can circulate nationwide long before final declarations are made by returning officers.
That environment creates a difficult distinction between reporting results as information and formally declaring the legally recognised winner of an election.
A judicial interpretation could therefore give media organisations clearer guidance on what they may publish, how such information should be described and where statutory restrictions begin.
GOCOP President Danlami Nmodu also emphasised the responsibility of journalists to scrutinise government and opposition parties fairly, arguing that credible journalism is essential to a healthy democratic process.
With preparations for 2027 intensifying, Agbakoba’s intervention could open a significant new area of election-law litigation one touching freedom of expression, media law, electoral regulation and the constitutional role of the press.
Related Story: 2027 Polls: Media Faces Tough New Campaign Rules
News Source: QED Nigeria
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