Cliff Hughes Apologises for Saying PNP Won Local Government Election Based on Preliminary Results “We did not get it right last night” – Video

An initial report by Cliff Hughes via Nationwide News Network stated that the People’s National Party (PNP) had won the Local Government Election, but the news outlet retracted the report. It was later revealed that the Jamaica Labour Party(JLP) won the majority of the municipal corporations based on preliminary results.

Acknowledging the error that was made, CEO of Nationwide News Network Cliff Hughes extended his apology to the public, stating that Monday night “was a tough night” in covering the results of the February 26, 2024, Local Government Elections.

“We here at Nationwide, over the years, have developed the reputation for covering elections very well and calling elections very well. We have gotten it right on all previous occasions. We did not get it right last night,” Hughes said.

He detailed that, due to “a clear trend” that results he and his team possessed showed, he decided to announce that the PNP won the Local Government Election. However, he and his team became aware of the “blunder” later in the night as they continued to observe additional data from their results system.

He mentioned that there were issues with obtaining results and expressed, “We apologise for the blunder we made last night.”

Continuing, he explained that the key metric used to determine “how well one does in a Local Government Election” is the results from the municipal corporations.

“To win a local election, you have to gain control of the majority of those municipal corporations. And as we have said, after a long night and early this morning, as of this moment, the governing Jamaica Labour Party has won the majority of the municipal corporations; 7. The opposition has won or is leading in 4 others, that’s 11, and 2 are tied as of this moment…Kingston and St. Andrew, and Clarendon,” he stated.

Additionally, he stated that the “opposition leader and the party are claiming that they went into yesterday’s election with 98 of the 224 electoral divisions, and they have come out with more than 98.” However, the JLP lost in that metric since it went in “with 130 and has come out with fewer than 130.”

Watch the video with the audio apology below:

The video with the audio apology was shared on Nationwide News Network‘s Instagram page on Monday morning, and the post received mixed responses from IG users.

Read some of the comments below: