*Allege suspicion over challenges in loading presidential results while N/Assembly outcomes went smoothly
*Adebayo congratulates Tinubu
James Emejo in Abuja
The Centre for Accountability and Inclusive Development (CAAID) and partners yesterday called on the National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that all polling unit results in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections are immediately uploaded on the IReV portal.
The CAAID and 18 other partners were accredited by INEC, trained and deployed as election observers to monitor and report on the electoral processes across the country.
The group at a joint media briefing and report unveiling pointed out that what was particularly suspected during the election was the fact that, “challenge was faced when uploading the presidential results, while those of the National Assembly elections went on smoothly.”
Executive Director, CAAID, Mrs. Aanu’ Rotimi, who unveiled its findings to journalists alongside Executive Director, Initiative for Africa Society Inclusion and Diversity for Development Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Coordinator CAAID Domestic Observer Group, Olayinka Akeredolu – Martins and Executive Director, Aspire Aspire African Youth Empowerment, Okache Emmanuel Ekpo, said the partnership deployed 321 observers across 22 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said even though the elections were peaceful in most of the polling units, incidences of voter intimidation and suppression were reported in a number of locations observed.
The group noted that the, “inability of INEC to strictly adhere to the Electoral Act and Election Guidelines is an anti-climax and has cast a shade of doubt on the credibility of the outcome of the presidential results.”
Accordingly, “This has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension across the country. As of March 1, 2023, the IReV showed only 149,897 out of the expected 176,606 results have been uploaded.
“The failure of INEC to convincingly communicate the cause of the glitches that led to its inability to upload results immediately after the elections at PUs has further raised the suspicion of Stakeholders.”
Among other recommendations, the groups called on all aggrieved Nigerians to remain calm and channel their dissatisfaction through the legal process and avoid actions that will ignite social unrest.
They further urged the commission to initiate the review of the results to verify the allegations of compromise of the integrity of the process.
The election observer group further called for urgent steps by the commission to avoid a repeat of the highlighted challenges during the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections.
“We call for unbundling of INEC around material and staff logistics, noting that the method of distribution of kits and sensitive materials needs to be improved.
“INEC needs to intensify efforts around voter education in collaboration with CSOs, media, and political parties in order to reduce the incidence of invalid or rejected votes. The number of invalid/rejected votes in the presidential election alone is close to one million,” the report further noted.
Meanwhile, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, yesterday described Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in last week’s presidential election as a well-deserved one.
He described the outcome of the election was a product of collective action by the leaders of the party who worked day and night to ensure the party’s victory in the election.
In a statement issued by media aide, Ifedayo Sayo, the minister said Tinubu’s victory showed that his campaign message of “Renewed Hope” actually met the expectations of Nigerians, which accounted for the massive votes recorded by the party in the different parts of the country at the election.
Adebayo also described the victory of the APC presidential flag bearer as people’s verdict on the performance of Buhari’s administration which has done so well to reposition the nation’s economy.
