Polling day · date tentative · local times in Africa/Lagos (hover for UTC) · last verified 2026-09-24
Held only if no presidential candidate on 16 Jan 2027 has the most votes AND at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of the 36 states and the FCT (Constitution s.134(2)). Then INEC 'shall within seven days of the result' arrange a second election between the top candidate and the one with a majority of votes in the most states (s.134(3)-(4)); note: seven days, not 21. The date 23 Jan 2027 is an ESTIMATE, not an INEC date: the first Saturday within seven days of a declaration on day 4 (the 2023 precedent). INEC's timetable sets no second-election date, and no Nigerian presidential election has gone to one. The Senate and House have no runoff.
Second election; its date is an ESTIMATE (see conditional), so every window here shifts with it. Polls: 08:30-14:30 WAT (UTC+1, no DST). The Electoral Act 2026 s.45 leaves the hour to INEC; 14:30 is INEC's standing close (chairman Yakubu, 25 Feb 2023, TheCable: 'We don't start 8:30am and close 2:30pm on the dot ... whoever is on the queue before 2:30pm will vote'). The 2026 Regulations and Guidelines were not retrievable to confirm the 2027 hours. From the close, presiding officers upload polling-unit result sheets (Form EC8A) to IReV (Electoral Act 2026 s.60(3)). These are unofficial images, not a collated count. 2023: presidential uploads lagged for days after a glitch INEC admitted (Channels TV, 23 Feb 2024). The window closes at the end of the second day after polling day, WAT; uploads can continue after it.
intermediate-count
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estimate
Second election; its date is an ESTIMATE (see conditional), so every window here shifts with it. State collation officers present each state's result at the National Collation Centre, Abuja (Electoral Act 2026 s.25(1)(d), (2)(g)-(h)); the running national total builds up state by state over the days after polling. 2023: collation ran from Sunday 26 Feb until the declaration early on Wednesday 1 Mar. Announced live at the centre, not on one results page; the IReV images are not this count.
final-result
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estimate
Second election; its date is an ESTIMATE (see conditional), so every window here shifts with it. The Chief Electoral Commissioner (INEC chairman) is the returning officer and declares the winner at the National Collation Centre (Electoral Act 2026 s.25(2)(h), (3)); a winner needs the most votes and at least 25% in two-thirds of the 36 states and the FCT (Constitution s.134(2)). 2023: polling Sat 25 Feb, declaration by chairman Mahmood Yakubu 'in the wee hours of Wednesday' 1 Mar 2023 (Leadership, 1 Mar 2023), day 4. The window opens at the start of day 3 (an ESTIMATED floor) and closes at the end of day 7, WAT, three days past precedent. Settle on the declaration, not on IReV images or state tallies.
court-validation
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estimate
Second election; its date is an ESTIMATE (see conditional), so every window here shifts with it. Constitution s.285(5)-(7): a petition must be filed within 21 days of the declaration; the Court of Appeal (as Presidential Election Petition Court, s.239) rules within 180 days of filing; an appeal to the Supreme Court is disposed of within 60 days of that judgment. If no petition is filed, the declaration stands once the 21 days lapse (the window opens 21 days after the earliest declaration). 2023: PEPC judgment 6 Sep 2023, Supreme Court 26 Oct 2023 (VOA, Vanguard), 239 days after the 1 Mar declaration. The window closes at the end of the eighth month after polling, past the constitutional outer limit (21+180+60 days plus the appeal filing). A 2024 bill (HB.1154) to finish petitions before swearing-in had not been enacted as far as found; inauguration is 29 May 2027 regardless.
Polling day is 2027-01-23 (tentative). Held only if no presidential candidate on 16 Jan 2027 has the most votes AND at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of the 36 states and the FCT (Constitution s.134(2)). Then INEC 'shall within seven days of the result' arrange a second election between the top candidate and the one with a majority of votes in the most states (s.134(3)-(4)); note: seven days, not 21. The date 23 Jan 2027 is an ESTIMATE, not an INEC date: the first Saturday within seven days of a declaration on day 4 (the 2023 precedent). INEC's timetable sets no second-election date, and no Nigerian presidential election has gone to one. The Senate and House have no runoff.
When will the final result of the President (second election) race be official?
Expected between 2027-01-25T23:00:00Z and 2027-01-30T22:59:59Z (UTC), confidence estimate. Second election; its date is an ESTIMATE (see conditional), so every window here shifts with it. The Chief Electoral Commissioner (INEC chairman) is the returning officer and declares the winner at the National Collation Centre (Electoral Act 2026 s.25(2)(h), (3)); a winner needs the most votes and at least 25% in two-thirds of the 36 states and the FCT (Constitution s.134(2)). 2023: polling Sat 25 Feb, declaration by chairman Mahmood Yakubu 'in the wee hours of Wednesday' 1 Mar 2023 (Leadership, 1 Mar 2023), day 4. The window opens at the start of day 3 (an ESTIMATED floor) and closes at the end of day 7, WAT, three days past precedent. Settle on the declaration, not on IReV images or state tallies.
Where are the official President (second election) results?
No single-election results page is recorded yet. The counting authority is Independent National Electoral Commission (https://www.inecnigeria.org/).