The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made numerous mistakes during the February 25 presidential election, according to the European Union Election Observer Mission to the 2023 General Election in Nigeria (EU EOM).
The EU claims that INEC’s operational failures were caused, among other things, by operational flaws and a lack of transparency.
However, INEC quickly responded to the EU report by defending the conduct of the 2023 elections, stating that despite the difficulties, there were many successes.
Barry Andrews, the head of the EU delegation and chief observer of the election, stated at a news conference in Abuja that the election “exposed enduring systemic weakness and therefore signalled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.”
Even though he noticed some improvements in the way the election was conducted, particularly the use of technology like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), he regretted that the general election of 2023 did not guarantee the smooth operation of a transparent and inclusive democratic process as promised by the INEC.
When it came to the state elections on March 18, civil society organisations demanded an independent audit of the entire process because, he continued, public confidence and trust in INEC had been severely damaged during the presidential election and had not been restored.
“Early in the process, while enjoying a broad stakeholder trust, INEC introduced a series of positive measures to strengthen the conduct of the elections,” according to Andrews. Though some began to question INEC’s internal capacity and administrative and operational effectiveness as election day drew near.
Due to its operational flaws and lack of transparency, the public’s confidence gradually declined and was severely harmed on February 25. Although a few of the corrective measures put in place before the elections on March 18 were successful, overall confidence was not restored.
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) were introduced, he said, and both were widely regarded as crucial steps in ensuring the legitimacy and integrity of the elections.
The chief observer claimed that in practise, however, a number of errors and a lack of transparency prior to the election, as well as the significantly delayed display of the presidential result forms, destroyed the public’s confidence in the election technologies used.
The EU parliamentarian continued, “INEC failed to provide a timely and thorough explanation for the failures of 25 February, thus the improved online display of results forms from the 18 March state elections only served to fuel further speculations about what precisely caused the delays after the presidential election.
“The late arrival of sensitive materials on February 25 caused a significant delay in the voting process, and during the initial collation, presidential results from polling units were not displayed in real-time on the IRev as promised by the INEC and expected by all stakeholders.
Due to widespread disorganisation, a disregard for the established procedures, and an unsuitable environment, a critical failure in the entire election process became apparent at the collation stage on February 25. One-fourth of the results forms were still missing from IReV at the time of the announcement of the presidential results, and a sizable portion of the forms uploaded there, which were frequently required for comparison with manual results, were illegible.
The EU added that of the 23 recommendations it made, six were given top priority for the Nigerian authorities to take into account in order to help make future elections in Nigeria better.
Andrews continued, “We are especially concerned about the need for reform in six areas that we have identified as priority recommendations, and we believe, if implemented, could contribute to improvements for the conduct of elections.
The six top suggestions include actions to clear up legal ambiguities, create a transparent process for choosing INEC members, guarantee real-time publication of election results, increase media practitioners’ protection, address discrimination against women in politics, and punish impunity for electoral offences.
“Importantly, there is a need for political will to achieve improved democratic practises in Nigeria,” the chief observer noted.
“An open dialogue about electoral reforms with all parties involved is still essential. In order to help Nigerian stakeholders implement these recommendations, the European Union is prepared to do so, he continued.
He bemoaned the fact that the EU recorded 101 violent incidents during the campaign, at least 74 of which resulted in fatalities, and he added that assassination attempts and murders increased closer to the election, creating an environment that was especially unsafe in several northern and southern states.
But in a quick response to the EU report, INEC defended the way the 2023 elections were conducted, insisting that despite the difficulties, there were many positive aspects to the vote. It also gave the assurance that the Commission would harmonise the EU’s recommendations with those of other election observers.
Festus Okoye, the INEC commissioner in charge of voter education, stated, “Even from the reports presented, you can see that the EU made mention of the fact that there has been a significant improvement in our electoral process and that this election has had so many positives.
“We registered more than 93 million Nigerians during this election, which was one of your gains. Additionally, if you examine every report that has been submitted, you will discover that both domestic and foreign observers attested to the fact that the BVAS performed at its best in terms of voter accreditation in every report. There is therefore no problem with the BVAS.
Second, you can see that almost all domestic and international observers noted that there had been significant improvements in the conduct and management of the elections in relation to the senatorial election, the House of Representatives election, the governorship election, as well as the election for state houses of assembly.
However, Okoye recalled the difficulties INEC faced, including violence directed at its employees and a lack of security, and he emphasised that INEC would work to correct any operational shortcomings seen during the elections.
