A pity INEC did not perform to expectations in the Presidential Polls. It must ensure the Gubernatorial Elections are well organised and credible
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) placed so much faith in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV). Despite the use of these technologies that had aided the credibility of several stand-alone gubernatorial and legislative elections in the past few years, many of the old problems resurfaced at the presidential and national assembly elections held on 25th February. At the end, INEC failed to live up to its promise, especially regarding real time uploading of polling unit results. And because of that, the outcome of the presidential election is now a subject of intense dispute with unflattering comments in the international media about our country and its electoral process.
On Wednesday, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu declared the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu winner of the election. He defeated 17 other candidates, including Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP). Both Atiku and Obi have refused to concede defeat, promising to challenge the result in court. We commend their recourse to civility and due process of the law in airing their grievances. But with the gubernatorial elections coming up this Saturday in 28 states and House of Assembly elections in all the 36 states, the main concern is whether INEC will get its act together to ensure that the problems associated with the presidential and national assembly elections do not recur.
By uploading polling unit results piecemeal days after the election, INEC has raised many questions that border on transparency, according to the reports of several observer teams. The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) identified some of the critical issues that defined the presidential and national assembly elections to include glitches in the use of technology, logistics problem like late arrivals of INEC officials at polling stations, influence of money, violence in some areas in the country and online falsehoods. These issues, according to CDD, “shaped the process, and provide some initial reflections on emerging trends”, while making recommendations for “improving future processes in the short, medium and long time.”
Given the desperation that attends every election cycle, pertinent questions remain. What is the cause of this extreme aggression in our politics? What’s behind the chaos in our elections? Why are politicians ever ready to game the electoral process? Why must every election in Nigeria be fought almost like a war? These and many other questions should engage the attention of stakeholders because these challenges are beyond the capacity of INEC and could ruin any election no matter the preparations.
We have stated in this space repeatedly that the struggles for election in our polity are vicious and bloody because the stakes are very high. A win during an election can transform hitherto struggling person to a life of luxury. The perks attached to politicians and public office holders must be pruned drastically to expect a change in the desired direction. Besides, those caught employing the use of violence or ballot stuffing, manipulation of manually written results, snatching of ballot boxes etc., must be marked down and brought to justice. We saw desperation even in the campaigns. Instead of marshalling how to attack the salient issues of the day, on full display were the same old dangerous politics of bitterness, rancour, and mudslinging, all of which are inimical to the economic and social well-being of the nation.
Meanwhile, INEC cannot afford to fail in the gubernatorial election this Saturday. We hope the commission will have rectified the problems of logistics. In many states across the country on 25th February, INEC officials and voting materials arrived the polling booths hours late in many places, while some prospective voters were disenfranchised, due to the failure of the BVAS machines. If INEC is not to permanently damage its credibility, the gubernatorial election slated for this weekend must be conducted without hitches.
