The February 25 Presidential and National Assembly polls have come and gone, but the reverberations left by the fallouts of the exercise are still with us. More than any previous polls, electorates, especially the youth, had, before last Saturday, expressed faith in the competence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct transparent elections. The assurances by the electoral commission that it was poised to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for quick accreditation of voters, to be followed by instant upload of the poll results real time on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, convinced the voting populace that, unlike the past where vote collation was done manually, with alterations of votes between the polling units and collation centres, this time around, the votes must count.
During last week’s polls, the shameless differences between announced figures of votes by INEC and that of signed result sheets as displayed by some party agents astounded many. Without uploading results of elections real time on the IReV portal, many contend that it was impossible for the nation’s electoral system to be cleansed of swindlers.
The signs that last Saturday’s polls could turn out the same in previous exercises showed up too early as the late arrival of election officials discouraged many voters to endure the scourging sun to cast their votes. While the reports from various parts of the country improved as the election commenced, the anxious faith persisted in the capacity of the Professor Mahmood Yakubu-led Commission to deliver credible polls. Preliminary report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) highlights some of the difficulties encountered by voters in exercising their civic duties.
Not only did the ad-hoc staff of INEC arrive late at their various polling centres, some of them simply strolled to their assigned duty posts at midday to assure desperate and angry voters that essential materials were still on their way. In a particular polling centre in Abuja, while distraught voters were left under the sun, unknown to them, the ballots were being thumb printed by an election worker. By the time the dust settled over the problem, it took the efforts of a combined team of security operatives to save him from further battering. He was quickly rushed to the nearest hospital for medical attention.
The failure of the electoral body to transmit results from the polling centres to its portal did not only render the exercise rancorous, it also portrayed INEC as a colluding partner involved in marring the exercise. Video clips showing violent scenes of ballot-snatching scenes, intimidation of voters by thugs, among others, have been displayed on various social media platforms. Threats by non-state actors bullying electorates to vote for a particular candidate or risk being thrown out from their areas of residences have sent shocking waves of crippling fear down the spines of frightened voters.
The role of clerics from the two dominant faiths before the polls also added tension and introduced religious sentiments. The same-faith ticket adopted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) was turned into a supremacy fight between the adherents of the two Abrahamic faiths. Even before the conclusion of the polls, not a few believed that the presidential poll may have been primed to favour a particular presidential candidate.
For an election to be credible, the impartiality of the electoral body must never be in doubt. However, it is crystal clear even to the blind that something was wrong last Saturday, just as the deaf heard the reverberating sounds of underhand dealings that caused ripples across the country. That the commission failed to upload real time on its portal the outcome of the polls clearly showed that it was not prepared for the electronic transmission of the 2023 election results. Despite its promise that it was poised to upload election results on its portal, when the time came, INEC went to sleep and resorted to manual vote collation, thus allowing anti-democratic forces to game the electoral system.
To state that the manipulation of the electoral process was done by only one of the parties is an obvious falsehood. Most of the parties were also involved in one form of malpractice or the other. When it comes to politics, Nigerian politicians and their sponsors have never forgotten the old way of ensuring they win elections, no matter the cost. The refusal of INEC to ensure quick upload of election results has done so much damage to the credibility of the poll results. It would have been far more acceptable and honourable for the commission to have declared its unpreparedness to upload results real time than be mute about it.
On INEC’s failure to transmit results of the polls electronically, the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, has explained that the commission is not bound by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 to real time upload of poll results. Six states of the PDP are set to commence legal fireworks to cause to nullification of the presidential poll results over INEC’s inability to upload election results real time on its portal as provided for by the Electoral Act 2022.
Nigerians are finding it strange to understand why the electoral body was able to upload results of the National Assembly on the IReV portal, while unable to do the same for the presidential election. The credibility of any poll is hinged on time. The longer the results are delayed, the more they are susceptible for manipulations.
Those who were quick to denounce an appeal by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to review and revalidate votes not subjected to BVAS application are now accusing him of calling for a coup against democracy. The incompetence of the commission to avail voters real time monitoring of the IReV portal is not only a clear invitation for public distrust, but an unambiguous and grim prognostication that next Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly polls could turn out worse as most of the governors will spare no measure to ensure the triumph of their parties over opposition candidates.
This is not the time to fan embers of negative partisanship in defence of politicians’ desperate quest for power. What our nation requires now are patriots who must elevate the interest of Nigeria above their quest for political power. We must not be in a haste to sweep under the carpet the thwarting and unethical conducts observed during last week’s presidential election. Considering the conduct of INEC last Saturday, Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, has proven to the world that it is incapable of electing leaders devoid of electoral manipulation.
Despite the infractions observed, we must maintain peace and allow those angry with the outcome of the polls to approach the courts for adjudication. Those who feel cheated over the results of the polls must eschew resentments to our nationhood and avoid any act capable of inciting violence.
The presidential candidates of both the PDP and LP have expressed their intentions to seek legal redress over the outcome of the polls. Next Saturday’s polls promised to be titanic, but INEC can do something by correcting the gaping failures as manifested during last Saturday’s elections. With the outcome of last week’s polls attracting condemnation, state governors must not be allowed to have their ways next Saturday.
The enemies of Nigeria are not those who whip up whatever sentiments for political power; the real enemies of our nation are those who compromise our electoral system and refuse to allow the will of the people to prevail. If nothing is done to address the alleged infractions as further worsened by the inability of INEC to upload election results real time on IReV portal, electoral brigandage, as unleashed last week by daring thugs, may succeed to push our democracy on the edge, thus facilitating the movement of our nation down the slippery slope of civil dictatorship.
Unlike in 2015, INEC last Saturday lost an opportunity to prove its competence and capacity to deliver on credible polls. Next Saturday offers a last chance for the commission to redeem its image by adhering to real time uploading of results on the IReV portal from polling centres. While we wait for the proof of inviolability of the electoral victory of APC presidential candidate in the months ahead in the courts, INEC should spare us yet another session of rancour by availing us real time results of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections on its portal.
INEC should not keep silent on the issue of real time upload of poll results next week. The commission must speak up now so that parties and their agents can be fully prepared to defend the sanctity of their votes from the polling units to the collation centres.
