In Côte d'Ivoire, it's election day this Saturday. But since yesterday, Friday, the publication of so-called "fictitious" results by the online media outlet Abidjan.net has been causing a stir. Following the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), which filed a complaint, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) has responded. It believes that the news site "has clearly engaged in a disinformation campaign, in complicity with the PDCI, in an attempt to incite a boycott of the presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire." President Alassane Ouattara's political party has strongly condemned what it calls "false propaganda" that seeks to tarnish the image of Ivorian institutions and discredit the people's vote.

Indeed, yesterday, Friday, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) declared that Abidjan.net had published fictitious results on its digital platforms, presented as those of the presidential election, even before the actual polling took place. An act that the Ivorian electoral authority describes as a false dissemination, devoid of any factual basis. For the CEI, this is a clear violation of the laws and regulations governing the press and communication during election periods. It has therefore filed a complaint.

For its part, Abidjan.net stated that this was an unfortunate technical incident that occurred during the update process. "This incident resulted in the temporary display of data on the Abidjan.net homepage. We wish to make it clear that, as the vote has not yet taken place, the data displayed in this way does not constitute real or official results," the media outlet said in an apology.