Politics
The fact that many foreign media organisations, CSOs, some chattering columnists, analysts and frontline politicians are totally in agreement that the 2023 presidential and general elections conducted by INEC were flawed and below acceptable international standards, it is unfortunate that the EU mission was singled out for castigation for saying what other observers of the polls said in their various reports. Perhaps, it is a red flag on what the nation should expect going forward.
By Goddy Ikeh
THE conduct and outcome of the 2023 presidential and general elections had been generally regarded by millions of Nigerians, especially the members of the opposition as electoral war in which some frontline politicians employed every available arsenal at their disposal to execute the war, including flaunting the ugly and divisive fault lines of the country.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the reports of the various local and foreign organisations, including the media that monitored the elections described the conduct of the polls as below acceptable international standards. For instance, in its assessment of the conduct and results of the general elections, the Youth Initiative for Growth and Advancement, YIAGA Africa, called for a comprehensive audit of the 2023 general elections. According to the final report of the polls, the organization said that the call had become imperative for purposes of inspiring public confidence and ensuring accountability for operational lapses, disregard of the constitutional and electoral legal framework, and cases of subversion of the people’s vote which hallmarked the elections.
According to the statement, YIAGA observed that although INEC’s Results Viewing Portal had functioned optimally, the manual collation process reinforced the fact that the Wards and Local Government Area collation centres were, however, the weakest link in the process, adding that observers had noted the failure of collation and returning officers to verify and compare results uploaded to the IReV with hardcopy results recorded on the Form EC 8A.
YIAGA said that reports by some of its observers were that security agencies, party supporters and political thugs denied accredited observers access to results collation centres, while some of the officers in some cases, demonstrated a lack of understanding of the guidelines by INEC, thereby misapplying the rules.
On the PVT findings on results declared by INEC, YIAGA said the results declared by the electoral body for 22 LGAs in Benue state were consistent with its estimates for the governorship election, where the All Progressives’ Congress should receive between 57.9% and 64.7%, the Peoples’ Democratic Party between 26.6% and 32.6%, while no other party should receive more than 5.6% of the vote.
In its recommendations, the group called on INEC to review cases where legitimate concerns were raised about the conduct and declaration of returning and collation officers at the just concluded Governorship and State Assemblies elections, especially cases where declarations were made in violation of the electoral legal framework.
The group also called on members of the election tribunals and appellate courts to demonstrate courage as a fundamental pillar of democracy, to insulate the courts from the influence of politicians and uphold the rule of law to its highest standards.
For the Nigeria Civil Society Situation room, it noted that the 2023 general election provided an opportunity for Nigeria to consolidate and improve on the gains it made from reforms and innovations introduced since 2011. However, organizational pitfalls, including inefficient management of permanent voters cards (PVCs) distribution, failure of operational and logistical arrangements, malfunctioning of election technology, inefficient handling of results management procedures, lack of transparent results collation and declaration process, and poor crisis communication, dented the credibility of the election.
But its final report of the elections showed that there was high level of election violence and insecurity as well as extensive vote buying which further undermined the credibility of the 2023 election.
“In the light of the shortcomings of the 2023 general election, the Situation Room believes that more reforms and improvements are required to ensure that the quality of future elections in Nigeria does not further decline, and that public confidence in the capacity of INEC to conduct elections is restored, while trust in the credibility of elections is re-established,” the report said.
It went ahead to make 16 recommendations to improve the election management body and the electoral process, some of the recommendations included the following:
That the Constitution should be amended to eliminate the position of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and appoint State Directors of Elections to replace RECs. The Directors will be employees of INEC subject to its control and direction.
That the suggestion by the Justice Uwais Committee for the unbundling of INEC should be considered and implemented without delay.
That the task of compiling and managing the National Register of voters should be entrusted with the body nationally charged with population data management in the country. “It is therefore proposed that the National Population Commission should be given the responsibility of extracting the national voters’ register from its population database and be further charged with updating and including the names of persons that attain voting age,” it said.
It proposed that amendments to the Constitution should include issues critical to the inclusiveness of the electoral process, such as endorsement of early voting for election day workers, independent candidacy and voting by Nigerians in Diaspora, in conformity with international principles for democratic elections.
That any future amendments to election legislation should be enacted sufficiently in advance of elections to provide political parties, candidates and voters adequate time to become informed of the new rules of the election process.
As a practice, INEC should institute a process of postelection audit to enable the Commission understand and account for lapses during elections, and to undertake measures to prevent future occurrence of the lapses.
And with regards to the 2023 general election, INEC should conduct: – an audit of polling units where elections did not take place to establish the reasons for the failure, – an audit to provide to the public details of the process leading up to the results it collated for the election, – an audit to provide to the public information on why the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal malfunctioned, despite assurances of its robustness.
To improve election administration, the National Assembly should be more vigorous in undertaking its oversight role over INEC and the electoral process. Preand post-election legislative scrutiny of the implementation of the Electoral Act and other legislations by INEC should be conducted regularly.
The National Assembly should be more forthright and dispassionate in performing its role of confirming appointees to positions in INEC. Petitions or complaints against nominees should be thoroughly and satisfactorily considered and investigated.
Noting that operational and logistic lapses have been a persistent challenge to elections in Nigeria, despite assurances of its readiness by INEC, the National Assembly within its oversight role should set up an independent readiness assurance investigation to ascertain the level of preparations before major elections.
To further address operational and logistic lapses, INEC should: – Make thorough planning a key priority. – Ensure the full implementation of and strict adherence to its Strategic Plan, Election Project Plan and Election Management System. – Take up other necessary measures to strengthen its procurement, logistics and operational capacity.
As an additional measure to address operational and logistic lapses, INEC should ensure a much greater compliance with election procedures at all levels and introduce measures to reduce inconsistencies in their implementation. The Commission should focus more attention on ensuring institutional cohesion and sound communication among its staff.
The report also stated that INEC could address its operational challenges by improving the capacity of its staff through robust learning programmes and timely training.
And to further improve the transparency of the results management process, the report said that INEC should devise a more robust internal results verification mechanism to be put in place before the official proclamation of the winners.
It advocated that clear instructions should be given to Collation and Returning Officers regarding the correction of calculation errors to eliminate the arbitrary handling of numeric inconsistencies in the result sheets.
The report also stated that INEC was not effective in its crisis communication during the 2023 general election. “In the future, the Commission should be more detailed, regular and progressive in its crisis communication,” it added.
Following the outcome of the flawed polls, the presidential candidates of the Peolpes Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, who were declared second and third positions respectively in the result of the election rejected the process used by INEC to arrive at the result and approached the courts to contest the result of the election.
While the nation is awaiting the final phase of the 2023 elections, which is now before the judicial arm of the government for adjudication, The EU EOM, which carried out its work between 11 January and 11 April at the invitation of INEC, presented its final report to INEC and the federal government in Abuja on June 17, 2023.
Presenting the report, Barry Andrews said that the 2023 general elections did not ensure a well-run transparent, and inclusive democratic process as assured by the INEC. “Public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged during the presidential poll and was not restored in state level elections, leading civil society to call for an independent audit of the entire process. The pre-poll environment was volatile and challenging, affected by economic crises. Fundamental freedoms of assembly and movement were broadly respected, yet the full enjoyment of the latter was impeded by insecurity in some parts of the country.”
Abuse of incumbency by various political office holders distorted the playing field and wide-spread vote buying detracted from an appropriate conduct of the elections. Incidents of organised violence shortly before and on election days in several states created an environment deterring voter’s participation. Media raised voters’ awareness, fact-checkers stood up against disinformation and civil society demanded INEC’s accountability.
According to him, the overall outcome of the polls attests to the continued underrepresentation of marginalised groups in political life. Positively, candidates and parties disputing outcomes took their complaints to the courts, although the number of such cases was extensive. However, social media also EU Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2023 Final Report General Elections 25 February and 18 March Page 8 of 92 provided a platform for citizens to express their views and stimulated important debates about the elections. Unfortunately, authorities often used the Cybercrimes Act to suppress freedom of expression online.
The report noted that online and offline media joined forces with civil society and fact-checkers to safeguard the integrity of the information environment. Real-time fact checking of gubernatorial and other contestants’ debates strived to hold candidates accountable, while various formats of voter information raised awareness. Civil society played a crucial and positive role in the electoral process, offering a non-partisan assessment of INEC’s conduct and, after the 25 February polls, calling for greater transparency and accountability.
Statements by citizen observer groups also pointed to INEC’s failures, while their leaders took part in online and offline discussions focusing on the impact of thuggery, violence, and intimidation on voters, and called for a thorough independent review of the 2023 elections.
Active involvement of youth was expected to be a decisive feature of the 2023 elections, especially considering the 2020’s wave of civic activism. However, despite targeted voter information efforts, political parties were seen to exploit youth, many of whom were vulnerable to pressure or coercion on social, financial, and educational grounds.
It noted that the high number of post-election petitions also are administratively and budgetarily costly for INEC. The post-election environment saw ongoing political animosities, unfolding primarily through the media and online, though protests remained peaceful.
The general elections highlighted a clear commitment among Nigerian voters to the democratic process but also demonstrated an urgent need for transparent and inclusive legal and operational reforms to tackle enduring systemic weaknesses of the electoral process. The EU EOM is offering 23 recommendations to improve electoral processes and to uphold regional and international commitments. They include six priority recommendations: Priority Recommendations
The electoral legal framework lays an adequate foundation for the conduct of democratic elections, with key regional and international standards being ratified. However, gaps and ambiguities in national law enable circumvention, do not safeguard transparency, while also allow undue restrictions to the rights to stand and to vote.
“We are particularly concerned about the need for reform in six areas which we have identified as priority recommendations, and we believe, if implemented, could contribute to improvements for the conduct of elections.”
The areas, he said, included removing ambiguities in the law; establishing a publicly accountable selection process for INEC members, and ensuring real-time publication of and access to election results.
Others are providing greater protection for media practitioners, addressing discrimination against women in political life, and addressing impunity regarding electoral offences.
Although the last elections showed the commitment of Nigerians to democracy, it also exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signal a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability, Andrews noted.
He added that shortcomings in law and electoral administration hindered the conduct of well-run and inclusive elections and damaged trust in INEC.
He stated that political will is crucial in achieving improved democratic practices in Nigeria and the EU stands ready to support Nigeria in the implementation of its recommendations.
The EU EOM is offering 23 recommendations to improve electoral processes and to uphold regional and international commitments. They include six priority recommendations. The priority recommendations include:
1. Protect the interests of voters through certainty of law for all stages and aspects of electoral processes by eliminating from electoral law and regulations errors and ambiguities to avoid potential for conflicting interpretations, and ensuring the revision processes are inclusive.
2. Establish a robust operational framework for the independence, integrity, and efficiency of electoral administration through an inclusive and publicly accountable mechanism for selecting candidates to the posts of INEC commissioners and RECs based on clear criteria of evaluation of merits, qualifications, and verified non-partisanship.
3. Protect the free expression of the will of the voter and integrity of elections by establishing a robust, transparent, and easily verifiable results processing system with clear rules. These include uploading polling unit results from the polling unit only and in real time, at each level of collation results forms to be uploaded in real time, and all forms to be published in an easily trackable and scrapable database format.
4. Afford adequate protection to freedom of expression by developing a comprehensive operational framework underpinned by the skills and means for ensuring prompt investigation and prosecution of all types of attacks against media practitioners.
5. Undertake urgent and robust affirmative action to ensure meaningful women’s representation through special measures in line with the Beijing principles and the National Gender Policy to increase the representation of women as candidates and in elected office, further supported by cross-sectoral, intensified, and sustained capacity building and sensitisation to eliminate discrimination.
6. Address impunity for electoral offences thro Address impunity for electoral offences through robust, well-defined, and effective inter-agency co-ordination governed by clear rules on non-partisanship, optimisation of resources, delivery of effective investigation and sanctioning, and provision of regular public consolidated information on outcomes.
However, the federal government rejected the EU Mission report, describing it as a poorly-done desk job. In a statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, the federal government said the EU mission had a limited coverage of the elections and that the organisation based its findings on rumours, social media commentaries and statements made by the opposition parties.
“Sometimes in May, we alerted the nation, through In a press statement, to the plan by a continental multi-lateral institution to discredit the 2023 general elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The main target was the presidential election, clearly and fairly won by the then candidate of All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Alake said.
“For emphasis, we want to reiterate that the 2023 general elections, most especially the presidential election, won by President Bola Tinubu/All Progressives Congress, were credible, peaceful, free, fair and the best organised general elections in Nigeria since 1999.
“There is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes.
“EU-EOM observed the elections through 11 Abuja-based analysts, and 40 election observers spread across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. With the level of personnel deployed, which was barely an average of one person per state, we wonder how EU-EOM independently monitored election in over 176,000 polling units across Nigeria.
“We would like to know and even ask EU, how it reached the conclusions in the submitted final report with the very limited coverage of the elections by their observers who, without doubt, relied more on rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads.
“We are convinced that what EU-EOM called final report on our recent elections is a product of a poorly done desk job that relied heavily on few instances of skirmishes in less than 1000 polling units out of over 176,000 where Nigerians voted on election day. We have many reasons to believe the jaundiced report, based on the views of fewer than 50 observers, was to merely sustain the same premature denunciatory stance contained in EU’s preliminary report released in March.”
Alake further noted that the EU mission report on the elections cannot stand, saying the country has moved on and the citizens appear “satisfied” with the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
“We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent,” Alake said.
“Our earlier position that the technology-aided 2023 general elections were the most transparent and best organised elections since the return of civil rule in Nigeria has been validated by all non-partisan foreign and local observers such as the African Union, ECOWAS, Commonwealth Observer Mission and the Nigerian Bar Association.
“Unlike EU-EOM that deployed fewer than 50 observers, the Nigerian Bar Association that sent out over 1,000 observers spread across the entire country for same election gave a more holistic and accurate assessment of the elections in their own report.
“As a country, we have put the elections behind us. President Tinubu is facing the arduous task of nation-building, while those who have reasons to challenge the process continue to do so through the courts. In just one month in office, Nigerians appear satisfied with the decisive leadership of President Tinubu and the manner he is redirecting the country to the path of fiscal sustainability and socio-economic reforms.
“We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe,” he said.
The statement by Alake attracted a number of reactions. The Tribune in its Editorial of July 5, 2023, stated that regardless of the partisan position of the Presidency on the 2023 polls, the EU EOM’s stance that the elections did not meet the expectations of Nigerians is unimpeachable.
It added that a plethora of observers, both local and international, provided documentary evidence of serial infractions during the polls. Indeed, things were so bad that members of certain ethnic groups were threatened with severe repercussions should they dare to exercise their franchise during the polls. Besides, as we noted in previous editorials, the electoral umpire let Nigeria and Nigerians down with its disastrous performance during the polls, with the glaring inadequacies that characterised them severely damaging the trust and confidence of Nigerians in it.
“We think that the priority areas listed by the observer mission require urgent and adequate attention. We believe that the EU EOM report, alongside similar ones by local and international observers, provide a meaningful commentary on the conduct, acceptance and legitimacy of the 2023 polls.
“The recommendations should, therefore, be taken seriously and attended to with deliberate care and attention. For instance, there is a lot of merit in the suggestion that the nomination of the chairman of INEC should be democratised, and there is no way that the call for real-time publication of and access to election results and swift punishment of electoral offenders can be construed as undermining Nigeria’s democracy,” the editorial said.
In the same vein, a civic organisation, the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education, CHRICED, expressed dismay over the uncharitable wave of attacks on the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) over its report on the 2023 presidential election which pointed some irregularities that undermined and tainted the credibility of the poll.
In statement signed by its Executive Director, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, backed the EU Mission’s report, stating that a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data generated by civic organisations across the country revealed widespread flaws and irregularities that put question to credibility of the poll.
But reacting to the barrage of criticism, the civic organisation condemned the onslaughts, describing the ill-tempered press statement from the Presidency denouncing the report as unfortunate.
“For us, the statement credited to the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy gives the impression to Nigerians and the international community that current power holders are unwilling to learn the key reform-related lessons from the 2023 General Elections.
“Since 1999, the European Union (EU) has been a strategic partner in Nigeria’s democratic process. The contributions EU has made over the years to deepening democracy in Nigeria cannot be dismissed with an ill-advised press statement from the presidency.
“As an important instrument for the leadership recruitment in the country, the electoral process and issues connected to it, are too important to be trivialized. Instead of the grandstanding and sophistry, those who claim to be democrats and progressives must put aside their egos and accept the flaws, which have made their so-called mandate questionable in the eyes of the public.
“It is therefore preposterous and indicative of a lack of willingness to right the wrongs for key officials of the state to unjustly castigate national and international organisations that are dispassionately calling for comprehensive electoral reforms in Nigeria,” the statement said.
In addition, the Labour Party and the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation have condemned vehemently the negative reactions to the final report of the EU Mission, which they described as a vindication of the heavily compromised elections.
Addressing a news conference recently in Abuja, the director general of the group, Akin Osuntokun, stated that the negative and jaundiced responses on the EU Report and other Election Observers’ reports, by the Spokesperson of APC administration and other ill-informed persons, which are totally in discord, with the mood of the nation, at this time, and which also, present an embarrassing contrast, to their selective celebration of the 2019 Election reports, from these same Observer groups.
“We advice that those who have deployed hired ‘protesters’ to the offices of the EU, in respect of their election report, desist from any further wastage of public funds, as the objective of intimidation is without basis, and has failed, from the beginning – because indeed, the irregularities in the election, were so excessively glaring, with bitter personal and reported experiences, by the overwhelming majority of Nigerians.
“The EU Election Observation Mission, as well as the Civil Society Situation Room, NDI -IRI, YIAGA etc are all INEC accredited observer groups, as well as very credible and long standing international and local stakeholders, in the Nigeria democratic process, whose reports are an essential contribution towards strengthening Nigeria’s democracy.
“We would like to point Nigerians, to the fact that the EU Observer group report, is in tandem with the reports of other international and domestic observers, duly accredited by INEC, and also in tandem, with public opinion and the experience of the majority of Nigerian citizens, who participated in, or observed the 2023 general elections.
“At this juncture, there is no doubt that Nigerians and the International Community expect the Judiciary, to critically examine the evidence, the law, and the processes of these flawed elections, in arriving at a legally correct, and overwhelmingly acknowledgeable verdict.
“We urge the people of Nigeria – youths, elders, voters and all citizens, to continue to follow the legal process patiently, keenly and peacefully to final resolution,” he said.
He commended the International Community and Civil Society, for their continued support in growing and consolidating our democracy.
“It is now only logical, bolstered by the final Observer Group reports, that the International Community take immediate and appropriate punitive action against Prof Mahmud Yakubu, Barrister Festus Okoye and other top administrative and field staff of INEC, directly complicit, in the desecration of these elections.
“We also demand unequivocally, the immediate dismissal from Office and prosecution of Prof Mahmud Yakubu, and the commencement of forensic financial investigation, into the expenditure of budgeted disbursements and Donors’ funds received by INEC not least of which is the N300 billion appropriated from the National purse, as well as other funds and materials, received from International Donor Agencies,” he added.
While the controversy rages over the report of the EU Observer Mission, Nigerians should not forget in a hurry that The Economist had earlier described the 2023 elections as “chaotically organized vote and messy count” gave Nigeria a new president, while The Financial Times of London said in an editorial comment that our presidential election was “deeply flawed” and the winner “a wealthy political fixer.” The Guardian of UK in its analysis, described the winner as “an immensely wealthy veteran powerbroker trailed by corruption allegations which he denies.” And the foreign election observers from the US International Republican Institute, IRI, and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) summed up their opinion of the election as falling “well short of Nigerian citizens’ legitimate and reasonable expectations.”
A.
– July 17, 2023 @ 06:04 GMT |
Tags: INEC YIAGA Africa
