The Nation Newspaper

Tag: elections

  • Elections: NSA warns political actors against violence, vote-buying

    Elections: NSA warns political actors against violence, vote-buying

    The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has warned political actors with violent dispositions and vote buyers against such acts in the forthcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election and the by-elections in Rivers and Kano states.

    Ribadu gave the warning during the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Friday, ahead of the Feb. 21 elections.

    He warned that any individual or group with such plan would be identified and reprimanded or restrained before, during, and after the elections.

    Ribadu, who was represented by Director of Internal Security in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Hassan Abdullahi, called on political parties, candidates, and their supporters to conduct themselves with decorum and uphold the integrity of the democratic process.

    “As we prepare for the FCT area councils election, and the by-elections in Kano and Rivers States, the Nigerian Police Force, designated as the lead agency for election security, in collaboration with other security and law enforcement agencies, is actively mobilising resources and implementing measures to prevent any action that would disrupt the electoral process.

    “Accordingly, adequate security personnel will be deployed to polling stations and high-risk electoral wards.

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    “Also, political thugs and politicians with violent dispositions will be identified and reprimanded or restrained before, during, and after the election, while votes buyers will be traced and apprehended.

    “Political parties, candidates, and their supporters are therefore urged to conduct themselves with decorum, and uphold the integrity of the democratic process. Any non-compliance will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law,” he said.

    He also called on the media, civil society, community leaders and citizens to cultivate a “sense of shared responsibility” to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy.

    Ribadu lauded INEC for the successful conduct of the recent Anambra governorship election, as well as the various security and law enforcement agencies for their “outstanding performance” in maintaining order during the exercise.

    He said that the peaceful outcome of the Anambra polls underscored the “unwavering commitment” of President Bola Tinubu to ensuring free, fair, and violence-free elections, thereby establishing a positive benchmark for future elections.

    “This achievement is particularly significant as the nation prepares for the upcoming electoral events,and this includes the area council elections in the FCT, by-elections in Rivers and Kano state.

    “This is in addition to the off-cycle governorship elections in Ekiti State on June 20, and Osun on Aug. 8, as well as general elections in 2027, and the nationwide voter revalidation exercise and ongoing continuous voter registration,” he said.

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, represented by CP Abayomi Shogunle, assured the public of massive security deployments to ensure violence-free polls.

    The IGP said that the police would provide constant security for INEC facilities and staff members, during and after the elections.

    “This is to enable INEC staff to carry out their duties without fear in any part of the country,” Egbetokun said.

    Earlier in his remarks, INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan urged the security agencies to up the ante in planning, deployment, intelligence gathering and inter-agency coordination for the FCT elections and by-elections in Rivers and Kano states.

    (NAN)

  • Making 2027 elections impossible to rig

    Making 2027 elections impossible to rig

    SIR: Every election since 1999 has combined innovation with betrayal. The pattern is painfully consistent: a new technology arrives with fanfare, inspires brief confidence, then collapses under elite interference. Manual voting gave way to the Permanent Voter Card, which reduced impersonation but pushed manipulation to collation centres.

    The Smart Card Reader curbed multiple voting, yet rigging re-emerged in result transmission. BVAS proved that accreditation could be verified but IReV showed that the final tally could still be captured by opacity. The failure to upload results promptly wasn’t a technical glitch, but a structural opportunity for manipulation. Each hour between the polling unit and the central collation became an ungoverned space where trust evaporated.

    Despite progress, vulnerabilities plaguing Nigerian elections include (i) result transmission delay in which data is tampered with before it reaches public view; (ii) collation time gap, where figures mysteriously change during manual aggregation in politically charged rooms; (iii) data hierarchy trap and legal ambiguity, where courts treat digital evidence as inferior to paper; (iv) logistics failure, which remains the most convenient form of voter suppression; and (v) judicial exhaustion loop, where election petitions drag for years, turning justice into a postscript.

     Electoral malpractice is really a crisis of structural empathy. The same spirit that keeps citizens queuing for passports or drivers’ licences fuels manipulation at the ballot. It is a system that rewards delay, prioritises discretion, and weaponises confusion.

    To rebuild credibility, the new INEC chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, must move beyond administrative reforms toward structural vetoes — systems that make fraud mathematically impossible where code, not conscience, guards the vote.

    Instead of paper copy, INEC should make digitally captured, geo-tagged, time-stamped image of each result sheet, the final and irrefutable record of the vote. Once the presiding officer signs and uploads it, the data should be encrypted and publicly mirrored. Any subsequent entry that differs from it by more than a small margin must be automatically rejected by the system.

    Historically, late arrival of materials has been the quiet weapon of manipulation, particularly in opposition strongholds. To end voter suppression by chaos, introduce a logistics predictability index that publishes a real-time dashboard showing the delivery status of sensitive materials nationwide. If index drops below 95% in any state 12 hours before the election, the chairman can trigger a limited, surgical postponement only for the affected Polling Units, not the entire state.

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    INEC, in collaboration with the National Assembly and the judiciary, must legally elevate encrypted polling-unit data as the primary evidence in court. Paper forms should serve only as backup. That single legal shift will end the practice of arguing over forged forms when the digital truth already exists. Once data becomes law, petitions become shorter, cheaper, and factual.

    Many politicians fear transparency because they equate it with exposure. The chairman’s genius must lie in persuasion — framing transparency not as punishment but as protection. For winners, it validates victory. For losers, it guarantees justice. In that symmetry, reform becomes risk insurance for both sides.

    The gospel of “do not rig” has never worked because it assumes virtue. The new creed must be: you cannot rig. When honesty becomes the path of least resistance, integrity stops being moral heroism and becomes logical self-interest.

    Nigeria can lead Africa’s democratic renaissance if INEC locks every transaction from accreditation to announcement into an immutable, publicly auditable chain. At that moment, the Nigerian election will stop being an act of faith and become one of evidence.

    Amupitan’s mandate is not to run a cleaner election. It is to end the human discretion. The question is no longer “Can we trust INEC?” but “Can INEC design a system that does not require trust?”

    Encrypted uploads, geo-tagged result images, public dashboards already exist. What remains is the moral courage to automate integrity. If he succeeds, the next election will not depend on divine luck or elite restraint but on an architecture so transparent that corruption becomes structurally impossible.

    • Lekan Olayiwola, lekanolayiwola@gmail.com
  • Cost of elections

    Cost of elections

    • Our country must find a way to spend less

    Recent reports said Nigeria spent a staggering N981.47billion (about $5.483bn) on conducting elections since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999. This locates the country among those with the costliest elections in the world, raising questions as to whether we are getting full value from the big budget and whether the huge cost is inevitable.

    A feature piece by ‘Vanguard’ newspaper indicated that six general elections conducted since the return to civil rule in 1999 gulped N949.47bn ($4.023bn). And the country laid out N32bn (about $1.46bn at the prevailing exchange rate) on the poll that ushered in civil rule, making a total of N981.47bn for the seven elections.

    According to the report, the cost of respective election in naira terms and the dollar equivalent at official exchange rates when the polls were conducted is as follows: 1999 – N32bn ($1.46bn), 2003 – N55.172bn ($483.965m), 2007 – N74.2bn ($618.333m), 2011 – N99.7bn ($664.667m), 2015 – N122.9bn ($646.842m), 2019 – N242.2bn ($794.098m) and 2023 – N355.298bn ($815.475m).

    Not that the spiralling cost of elections has translated to deepening trust in the electoral process by the political class – that is, if the number of post-election petitions is to be taken as indexing trust. The report stated that unlike the 1999 election that incurred only two petitions, the 2003 poll was trailed by 560 petitions, 2007 by 1,290 petitions, 2011 by 732 petitions, 2015 by 560 petitions, 2019 by 1,697 petitions and 2023 by 1,996 petitions.

    Election stakeholders rate Nigerian elections among the most expensive globally and nearly the costliest in Africa. Bangladesh with a population of 175.7million people conducted her 2024 elections with local currency equivalent of $21.3m. In Africa, Kenya with a voter population of 22.12million voters spent KSh36bn ($257m) on her 2022 general election, translating to an average cost of about KSh2,000 per voter.

    Ghana and South Africa are also high election spenders, with Ghana splashing GHC786.9m ($52.1m) on her 2024 poll and South Africa Rand2.3bn ($137.8m) on her election, also in 2024. The cost of conducting elections in Nigeria is also higher than in bigger economies like Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.

    The United States and India outpace all other nations in election spending, but they also deal with voter population sizes that exceed all others. Besides, high voter turnout in those countries mitigate the monies laid out on their elections. Whereas India’s 2024 general election, for instance, is considered among the most expensive anywhere in the world, incurring an estimated $2.89bn bill, more than 968million people out of the country’s 1.4billion population (i.e. 70 percent) were eligible to vote and 642million (65.79 percent) voters actually turned out.

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    The 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections in the United States gulped $15.9bn; but there were 173.85million people registered to vote, and turnout for the presidential poll was 64.1 percent.

    On the other hand, while the cost of elections is surging in Nigeria, voter turnout is dwindling amidst ballooning voter register. From 58million registrants in 1999, the country’s voter roll swelled to 93.5million registrants before the 2023 general election, but voter turnout has progressively dipped at election cycles. Official data showed percentage turnout for presidential polls as 52.3 percent in 1999, 69 percent in 2003, 57.5 percent in 2007, 53.7 percent in 2011, 43.7 percent in 2015, 34.8 percent in 2019 and 26.72 percent in 2023.

    In its official report on the 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it received N313.4bn out of N355.2bn approved for the conduct of the polls as of September, that year. “The breakdown of the appropriated amount on the basis of the Average Cost per Registered Voter Index (COVI), for the 93,469,008 registered voters in Nigeria is N3,801 (US$6.72) per voter. This is well within the internationally acceptable Average Cost per Registered Voter (ACRV) of $4 to $8 that is deemed adequate for the conduct of elections in transitional democracies,” the electoral body said in the report.

    It added: “In fact, the ACRV for the 2023 general election is less than the actual cost of $9.62 and $7.38 cost per voter for the 2015 and 2019 general election, respectively, and very reasonable in comparison to the cost per voter in other transitional democracies such as Ghana and Kenya.”

    Elections are expensive in Nigeria, and there’s no gainsaying it. But the high cost of elections is directly a function of the political culture that is characterised by acute desperation on the part of political actors. INEC incurs massive expenditure on conducting elections because the commission must stay ahead of fraudulent devices by political actors and absorb willful damage to its infrastructure by sponsored hoodlums.

    Many times, its offices and machines were torched by hoodlums and had to be restored or replaced. Beyond the core cost of conducting elections by INEC, there is the unwieldy electoral spending by political parties and candidates prior to elections, and endless litigations long after elections are over. All these contribute to the huge cost of election in the country.

    There is a sense in which we think all these tie together. Political players must get less desperate, so that INEC would spend less on staging elections. But desperation can also be doused by engendering higher level of trust in the electoral process, and the electoral commission can help by working harder to acquit itself of all shades of suspicion.

    All said, it is about time political offices were made more of willingness to serve and less of investment with huge rewards in view.

  • Elections: IGP reaffirms commitment to fairness, impartiality

    Elections: IGP reaffirms commitment to fairness, impartiality

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun on Tuesday vowed to remain committed to fairness and impartiality during the electoral process in the country.

    Egbetokun gave the assurance when he received a high-level delegation from the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) at the IGP Smart Conference Hall, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

    The delegation, led by Mrs. Davidetta Browne Lansanah, Chairperson of the National Elections Commission of Liberia, comprised senior electoral officials including Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman, Elections Commission of Ghana, Mr. Chinedu Chinedu, Senior Programme Officer, ECONEC, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, Chief Technical Adviser, INEC, and other representatives and partners of the network. 

    The visit was a follow-up dialogue on implementation of electoral policies ahead of the General Elections.

    In her remarks, Mrs. Lansanah appreciated the IGP for granting audience to the delegation, acknowledging the significant role the Police plays in electoral security. 

    She further stated that the visit was aimed at discussing key issues raised in the 2023 general elections report, and mapping out strategies for implementation of recommendations ahead of the 2027 general elections in Nigeria.

    Responding, according to a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the IGP appreciated the delegation for the visit, highlighting the critical role the Nigeria Police Force plays in safeguarding the electoral process.

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    He further stated that the Force’s responsibility in electoral process spans across three distinct phases: pre-election duties, which involve managing peaceful campaigns and resolving conflicts; election day operations, including adequate deployment of personnel, escorting and protection of electoral materials; and post-election duties, such as maintenance of law and order to prevent post-election violence, profiling of electoral offenders, investigations while prosecuting offenders. 

    He emphasised the Force’s commitment to neutrality, fairness, impartiality, professionalism, and ensuring the credibility of elections across the country.

    He reaffirmed that the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force under his leadership remains dedicated to upholding democratic values by ensuring free, fair elections across the country.

    He reiterated the importance of sustained collaboration between electoral commissions and security agencies, while also noting the positive feedback received from international observers regarding the activities of the Police Force during recent elections.

  • Controversy: Non – indigenes should be barred from contesting Senate, House of Representatives elections

    Controversy: Non – indigenes should be barred from contesting Senate, House of Representatives elections

    If for the sake of equity amongst Nigerian states and peoples, representation in the senate is set at 3 members per state, and  constituency, which is determined

    on  the basis of the population strength of each state, is the basis for allocating the number of Reps a state can have,  why are non- indigenes allowed to  contest for these positions outside their state of origin?

    I consider this grossly unfair in a country like ours where, in  some states in the Southeast geo- political zone would not tolerate a cleric, (even of the same Igbo ethnic stock) as their clergy if so appointed by the Pope if he comes from outside their own state. This we have seen severally.

    It could, in fact, be far worse, as happened when the entire indigenous peoples of Aba Ngwa not only rose, like one man, in rejecting a non- indgene as the Aba Mayor, but flagrantly dared their state governor, Alex Otti, to dare appoint one. Please see  Vanguard of Oct 19, 2023 for confirmation.

    These are the same people who come loaded with money to try everything  to contest elections, from councillorship to governorship, in the Southwest.

    I could barely hold myself when this past week, on a Seun Okinbaloye television programme, a  respected Muiz Banire, Senior Advocate of Nigeria,  glibly described this practice as signifying political freedom.

    What political freedom? Why should this freedom be applicable to the geese but not apply equally to the gander or where in the East can a Yoruba man, seriously, contest a senate seat?

    Whoever likes may call me an ethnic bigot but where, in all honesty,  has this been allowed to happen in the East?

    During the 2023 elections Peter Obi, not only ensured that Igbos predominated amongst party executives in both the North and the West, many of the party’s candidates for election, Pan – Nigeria, were equally Igbo.

    You can only imagine where, a politician, say from Aboh Mbaise LGA (Imo state), but representing Amuwo -Odofin(Lagos state) in the House of Representatives, will consider first for a  project between Imo and Lagos state.

    If this is truly freedom, then it should apply equally everywhere in the country.

    I, therefore, say enough of this absolute nonsense. The National Assembly must move, with all speed, to abrogate the misnomer.

    It could, in future, be reversed when all Nigerians consider themselves brothers and sisters enough to jettison primordial considerations in all things.

    As things stand today in Nigeria, we are neither Americans nor British in whose countries the phenomenon counts for nothing.

     The fundamental underlying this discussion is the truism that in Nigeria, unlike in the U.S, the UK or the West in general, primary loyalty goes to one’s place of birth, as well as to one’s people, while scant attention is paid, if at all, to people from far fetched areas since place of domicile is accorded any regard, majorly on his/her business. 

    So perfunctory, and ephemeral, is this little concern or attention, as we saw in Ibadan last year, where a sojourner thought nothing of allegedly storing dangerous, and flamable, mining chemicals within his community until it completely incinerated the entire area, causing serious damage to lives and property.

    It is very doubtful if anybody who owes his roots to where he lives would ever conjecture such a dangerous act.

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    It is the same reason many people, with no relationship to their immediate community, are known to go into very seedy areas of towns and cities to set up factories, manufacturing unsafe water in sathets for human consumption, or adultratrating all manner of alcoholic drinks, believing that the hardworking but overstretched NAFDAC may never be able to catch up with them.

    All these they won’t do in their villages.

    It is important to emphasise these differences so that nobody would come round trying to obfuscate things with the fact that anybody living in any state in the Unitetd States of America can contest elections after satisfying some residence conditionalities.

    If there is any place where the saying: ‘politics is local’, is truest, and should be sacrosanct, it is  Nigeria because,

    what is ours we always hold dearly but believe that we can throw trash to others.

    Therefore, whoever thinks he would not pay taxes in his state of domicile because he could not contest election into seats where his own state of origin has an equal number of seats allocated to it, must know that he cannot, legitimately, do any business in that state.

    That settled, it needs be said that the principle of equal representation in the senate is a cornerstone of federalism, ensuring that each state has an equal voice in the upper chamber. If this is so why allow individuals to contest senate and state elections outside of their own state?

    This will be  a contradiction in terms as it  will undermine the very principle of equal representation.

    To properly understand this issue, it is essential to delve into the history of the US Constitution, which established the framework for the senate and house of representatives.

    The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was a pivotal moment in American history, where delegates debated, and negotiated, the structure of the federal government. The concept of equal representation in the senate was a hard-won compromise, with smaller states insisting on equal representation to prevent larger states from dominating the chamber.

    The framers of the Constitution  established that each state would have two senators, regardless of population. This ensured that smaller states would have an equal voice in the senate, preventing larger states from imposing their will on the chamber.   

    Senators, like Reps are expected to represent the interest of their state, which requires a deep understanding of local issues and concerns.

    By allowing individuals to contest elections outside of their own state, the system risks undermining this principle of local representation. It is essential to strike a balance between allowing individuals, with expertise, to represent a state and ensuring that they have a genuine connection to the community they’re representing.

    Another argument against allowing individuals to contest elections outside of their own state is that it can lead to a lack of accountability. If an individual is elected to represent a state they don’t, in reality, belong to, they may not be accountable to the local community. Why would you wish to represent a people who language and culture you do not have a deep understanding of?This will certainly  lead to a disconnect between the elected representative and his constituents, thus undermining the principles of democracy and representation.

    In conclusion, the controversy surrounding the ability of individuals to contest senate and state elections outside of their own state is a straight forward one that should be resolved against the non – indegene. While the principle of equal representation in the senate is essential to federalism, it is equally important to ensure that elected representatives have a genuine connection to the community they seek to represent.

    Finally, it needs be stressed that the mathematics of representation must be strictly adhered to.

    It is of extreme importance that no non – indegene be allowed to compromise the equality of numbers as structured for senate and as allowed as a function of population in the number of Reps alloted to each state. To put it starkly, a Yoruba man or woman, contesting and winning an election in a non – Yoruba state, unfairly reduces the number of indigenes representing their people, whether in the Red or Green chamber.

    It is a lacuna that must be promptly removed for equity.

  • All is set for Ogun LG elections – OGSIEC chairman

    All is set for Ogun LG elections – OGSIEC chairman

    The Chairman of Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), Mr Babatunde Osibodu, has said that the body is ready for polls holding in the state today.

    According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he disclosed this in Abeokuta on Friday.

    Osibodu urged the electorate to go out en mass to perform their civic responsibilities.

    He noted that electoral materials were already being transported to the appropriate local governments for effective distribution.

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    A visit to the commission’s office in Abeokuta revealed that transport operators and security agents needed for the distribution of sensitive materials were already on the ground.

    Electoral Officers from the local governments were also seen at the commission’s office ready to collect the materials for a smooth exercise on Saturday.

    NAN reports that the OGSIEC had earlier solicited the support of stakeholders including the media at a parley where it reiterated its determination to conduct credible elections.

  • Elections: Christian youth group denounces sentimental voting 

    Elections: Christian youth group denounces sentimental voting 

    Nigerians have been urged to set aside religious and other sentiments when choosing their representatives in government. 

    The Christian Youth Movement (CYM) for Tinubu/Shettima 2023 emphasised that voters should focus on the competence of candidates who can deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

    Speaking at the 2024 Citizens Choice Award in Abuja, CYM’s National Public Relations Officer, Jude Odiari-Arinze, stressed that neither religion, ethnicity, nor professional affiliations should influence voting decisions. 

    He urged Nigerians to view governance beyond religious sentiment, highlighting the need for leaders who can genuinely serve the nation.

    He said: “Remember prior to the 2023 General election, especially during the campaign, religious issue of Muslim/Muslim ticket became a heated debate. 

    “We are not interested in religious or professional belief, we are only in rendering or getting the dividend of democracy”. 

    He urged Nigerians to stand by the choices they made in the last elections, emphasizing the importance of maintaining faith in their decision. 

    He added that despite the religious sentiments against him, the election of President Bola Tinubu remains the best choice for the country.

    “This is the season of planting, we will soon reap the harvest of this administration in no distance time and Nigerians will smile for it,” he said.  

    The National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Adeleke Olorunwa, stated that the inaugural edition of the award was inspired by the efforts of young people serving in President Tinubu’s government, working to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians. 

    He acknowledged the nominees’ roles in supporting President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, highlighting their efforts, commitment, and selfless service to the nation.

    Olorunwa explained that the awards were based on leadership, innovation, and dedication, recognizing individuals who have made significant impacts on their communities. 

    He praised the awardees for embodying integrity, transparency, and accountability, which he said are essential to strengthening governance and driving the success of the Renewed Hope Agenda. 

    He said the leadership, innovation, and dedication of the awardees that have made significant impacts on communities and inspired others to follow in their footsteps have not gone unnoticed, which inspired the recognition 

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    The Minister of Interior, Tunji Ojo, was awarded Most Active Male Youth in Government, while Moremi Ojudu, Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, received the Most Active Female Youth in Government award. 

    Charles Odi, Director-General of SMEDAN, was named Best Performing Youth in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

    Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State won the Youth-Oriented Programme Governor award, and Sen. Fatai Buhari of Oyo North was recognized as Best Senator. 

    Kayode Laguda, representing Surulere Federal Constituency, Lagos, was named Best Male House of Representatives Member, while the Tony Elumelu Foundation received Best Employer of Labor. 

    A special recognition award was given to Sen. George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

  • The charades called local government elections

    The charades called local government elections

    • By Nurudeen Dauda

    Sir: To start with, free, fair, and credible elections in Nigeria are a major challenge at all levels. It is sad to note that the conduct of elections at local government levels by the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) is the “worst” form of election malfeasance. The ongoing ugly trend is that any state governed by APC or PDP or APGA or LP and or NNPP is certain to win 100% of the local council poll. This is our sad reality!

    For a very long time ago now, our governors have been exploiting some lacunas in the 1999 constitution to appoint caretaker committees instead of conducting elections for local government helmsmen. In states where elections were held, they were often kangaroo exercises.

    The Supreme Court has now determined that section 162 of our constitution mandates direct monthly revenue allocation to only local governments with elected officials. Prior to the judgement, majority of our local governments from across the states of the federation were administered by caretaker committees. Now, every state is now in a race to replace caretaker committees with elected officials in order to avoid the possibility of their allocations being withheld.

    It is unheard of and or unthinkable even in the so-called advanced democracies to have a scenario where all contested seats in an election are won by a single political party as it does happen in our local government elections. Election is the bedrock of democracy as well as the primary source of legitimacy; it affords citizens the opportunity to have a say on who governs them.

    It is quite unfortunate that we now often celebrate the brazen electoral fraud at the grassroots level in the name of local government elections. This will not take us to the promise land! For as long as elections are not credible at the local government levels, the much talked about financial autonomy granted to them through the July 11, Supreme Court judgement will mean little or nothing. State governors will continue to plant and/or impose their minions as chairmen via our usual kangaroo elections to guarantee their continuing access to local government funds.

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    All hands therefore must be on deck towards credible elections at all levels in our dear country as a necessary ingredient for good governance; credible elections often make leaders accountable and responsible. We must not settle at anything less than credible elections as the most important tool for achieving good governance.

    It is apt to state that from the year 2011 elections under Prof. Attahiru Jega to date, INEC has witnessed significant improvements in the conduct of its elections owning to the adoption of technology. In the 2015 general elections, card-reader technology was exploited by politicians for lack of legal backing and in the 2023 general elections, INEC Result Viewing (IREV) technology was also exploited for same reason.

    In my thought, the best way to improve our elections at all levels is to embrace modern technology wholeheartedly. This will certainly minimize human manipulations in our electoral process. The use of technology should and or must be made compulsory by both INEC and SIECs.

    For us to get it right, we also need electoral offences commission with a Special Court for trial of electoral offenders. There must be severe punishments for electoral offenders in our dear country in order to serve as deterrent to would be offenders.

    For the local government administration to improve, we must critically re-examine the following sections of our constitution: Section 162 sub-section (6), Section 7 sub-section 6 (b), Section 197 sub- section (1), The 5th Schedule of the 1999 constitution of the 1999 constitution as amended among others.

    •Nurudeen Dauda,

    Kaduna, Kaduna State.

  • The matter of elections

    The matter of elections

    Penultimate Saturday witnessed one governorship as well as local government elections in two states. Edo State had its governorship off-cycle election in which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, Monday Okpebholo emerged victorious. He scored 291, 667 votes to beat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Asue Ighodalo who scored 247, 274 votes according to the figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. The candidate of Labour Party LP, Olumide Akpata came a distant third with 22, 763 votes.

    Enugu and Imo states also held elections into the various local government councils on the same day. Perhaps, the latter round of elections did not enjoy national prominence because it was an affair solely with the purview of their respective State Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs.

    That does not in any way diminish the significance of those rounds of elections closest to the people at the grassroots. Of late, state governments appear in a hurry to have elected local systems in place. The ruling of the Supreme Court nullifying the contraption known as caretaker committees and ordering the withholding of federal funds from non-democratically elected local government councils account for this rush.

    It would however, seem that the enthusiasm to get the councils run by democratically elected people is informed more by political expediency than the love for democratic governance at that level. It is more of an act of desperation to ensure that federal allocations to the councils get to them. So the state governors have to contrive their own brand of elections to satisfy all righteousness, irrespective of their deviation from the rules of free, fair and all-inclusive democratic engagement.

    That is the foreboding signal emerging from the local government elections in Enugu and Imo states. The outcome of those elections as announced by their SIECs saw the ruling parties in both states sweeping all the chairmanship and councillorship polls.

    In Enugu, the PDP cleared all the 17 local government chairmanship positions. Chairman of the SIEC, Prof. Christian Ngwu said the commission did an excellent job of conducting free, fair and credible polls. Though he said he was yet to get the full compilation of all the 260 ward councillorship positions, all indications pointed to the same pattern of victory.

    Imo followed the same pattern with the APC sweeping all the chairmanship and councillorship positions in the 27 local governments of the state. The state ISIEC and party bigwigs have been beating their chests for the feat which they attributed as evidence of the return of peace and tranquillity in the state. For Imo State House of Assembly, it was the defeat of banditry and insecurity that made the successful conduct of the polls in the 27 local government areas possible.

    The two states are entitled to their views regarding the credibility and integrity of the local government elections they held. They are also at liberty to lay absolute claims to their popularity and connection with the various interests and segments of their states that made the feat possible.

    But, there is everything wrong with an election where all the victorious candidates are members of the ruling party. Not that this pattern is entirely new in elections conducted by the SIECS. NO! It has been part of the electoral dysfunctions that question the relevance and propriety of the continued retention of the SIECs.

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    Before now, there have been calls for the scrapping the SIECs on account of their inability to provide a level playing ground for other political parties to participate in the local government polls in a free, fair and credible manner. That call peaked with the Supreme Court ruling against any form of government at the local governments that does not derive its mandate from the people.

    The danger in allowing the SIECs continue with the LG elections’ conduct has been laid bare by events of the two elections. The desire of state governors not to allow opposition parties win any LG seat is part of the larger agenda to continue to corner funds at that level. If the Supreme Court bars us from constituting caretaker committees, we will make sure those who emerge in LG polls are people who will do our bidding, the reasoning goes. 

     That is why everything has to be contrived including make-shift primaries, selection and shunting out opposition parties to get anointed candidate mount the saddle. The situation has become so bad that the public has virtually lost confidence in the transparency of LG polls. Yet, we are being mocked and our consciences assailed by the touted transparency of a process that was primed to produce predictable outcomes.

     But that shows our strong aversion to western democracy. Our brand of politics has continued to show clear signals that political actors abhor opposition. The evidence is there in the rancorous and do-or-die politics. It is manifest in intolerance to opposition and winner takes all syndrome. It can be discerned from the increasing slide to one state.

    Yet, our leaders grandstand on democracy, eulogising it as if it is an end unto itself rather than a means to public good. It is commonplace seeing our leaders talk of democracy in glowing terms, taking credit for their sacrifices to wrest that governance construct from the military. But when it comes to upholding pristine values on which the model revolves, the same people become the greatest obstacles to its proper functioning. We really have a choice to make.

    Of more national significance was the Edo governorship election. It has come and gone with winners and losers known. But its value does not as much lie with winners or losers as the processes that produced those outcomes. Though the election progressed well in terms of accreditation, voting, counting and recording of results at the polling units, the collation process ran into troubled waters due to alleged compromises in some centres. Incidences of vote-buying, intimidation of INEC officials, observers and party agents were rife despite the huge security deployment.

    One of the civil society groups that monitored the election, Yiaga Africa rated the outcome as having failed integrity test. “While key processes such as accreditation, voting, counting and recording of results at the polling units substantially complied with the procedure, the results’ collation process was compromised by the actions of some biased INEC officials in connivance with other actors” the group said.

    The group said it recorded incidents of results’ manipulation and disruption during ward and local government collation in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor and Oredo local governments including intimidation of officials, observers and agents.

    Reservations on the outcome of that election also came from other quarters especially the PDP which described its outcome in very disparaging terms with a vow to contest the outcome in the court. But the APC sees their victory as evidence of the acceptance of the leadership at the centre.

    There is the temptation to view reservations on the conduct of the Edo governorship election as part of the culture of disputes that characterise elections on this clime. The hallmark inability or refusal by contestants to accept defeat even where there were clear outcomes could be cited to support this viewpoint.

    But there is grave risk of reductionism in stretching this line of argument further especially in the face of the obvious infractions. It was one off-cycle election INEC needed to demonstrate its capacity to run a credible, undisputed election, one that satisfies all parameters of free, fair transparent process.

     The credibility deficits INEC suffered during the last general elections is one reason it should have gotten its acts right. But that failed to happen. Reports of collated results deviating substantially from those posted in INEC result viewing portal (IRVP) cast serious slur on the whole essence of deploying technology to enhance the transparency of the exercise. It questions the competence of INECs leadership; the relevance of the agency and its impartiality.

     We have passed through this odious route before. It is sad the nation is again being confronted by the same lapses that nearly marred the last general election. Then, IRVP was said to have witnessed glitches such that results could not be compiled directly from it. Why INEC was unable to compute the results directly from the portal in a single off-cycle election is the greatest puzzle of the Edo poll.

    It is getting clearer that we are not prepared for democracy despite proclamations and pretences. But for how long shall we continue to falter each time the sovereignty of the electorate in democratic engagement is put to test?

    The choice is either to make democracy function through transparent periodic elections, allow it atrophy or opt for contraptions that suit our whims and caprices.

  • Time Nigeria adopted NBA model for elections

    Time Nigeria adopted NBA model for elections

    • By Ekpa Stanley Ekpa

    Nigeria’s first federal election upon independence ended disastrously with the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) refusing to participate in the elections on the ground of irregularities. On the eve of the poll, the major alliance of southern political parties, backed by the ceremonial president, insisted on a postponement of the election as the only way to bring about a free and fair expression of opinion. When the demand was denied, political leaders from southern Nigeria boycotted the election.

    Nevertheless, the election held, and the Northern People Congress (NPC) and its allies went ahead to win the election with a majority of seats. The consequent events led to Nigeria tottering ‘perilously on the brink of disintegration and bloodshed”, as the president in an open disagreement with the prime minister threatened to resign rather than carry out his constitutional duty to invite the NPC to form a government.

    Sixty years later, the credibility of elections is still at issue. 

    Whereas electoral irregularities occur in almost all democracies around the world, every country must constantly pursue processes that improve their electoral systems, as the foundation of a country’s credible leadership is credible election. It is irreconcilable, the paradox of progress in Nigeria’s electoral process, particularly in a digital age, where almost all human interactions are digitized for efficient results. To contextualize this writer’s immediate concern, it ruffles logic, that a country like Nigeria with one of Africa’s brightest communities of successful tech and digital entrepreneurs and citizens, is confined to the affliction of politically intended electoral irregularities.

    From the historical 1959 federal election that throttled Nigeria to independence in 1960, to the keenly contested electoral outcome of 2023 general elections, Nigeria has continued to seek electoral reforms for a transparent, credible, free and fair electoral processes, without success.

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    Notwithstanding that till date, no free or open-source electronic voting systems have been used on a large national scale in any country, the Nigerian Bar Association’s recent National Executive Committee’s election presents a model, that should guide Nigeria to leverage digital technologies for credible and inclusive elections. You cannot be an objective lawyer, who voted in the last NBA election, and will not question the rational for INEC’s sustained failure to leverage the electoral legal framework to build a safe, seamless and real-time e-voting system, that allows for a hybrid Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAs), digitize the accreditation systems which will allow Nigerians anywhere in the world to vote either virtually or physically, ensure that votes cast at physical polling units are reflected real-time on the Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV), and provide credible electoral outcomes.

    NBA’s e-voting system is not perfect, but since it was adopted by the NBA’s 27th President, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) in 2016 following the controversy that characterized the election that produced his administration in 2014, NBA’s e-voting system which replaced the old delegates system, has helped to reduce campaign expenses and ensures seamless voting process. After four subsequent deployments of the e-voting system in NBA elections, the system has significantly improved.

    If election is about people and the system seeks to ensure that the people truly participate in exercising their free will to choose their leaders, a hybrid voting model that is secure, inclusive and efficient is required. With the level of entrenched electoral irregularities in Nigeria, an integrated hybrid model of voting remains a realistic option for sanitizing the system. As Nina Wudiri puts it, the ‘purchased participation of the people in a democracy cannot be stopped by the rhetoric that “once you sell your vote, you have sold your voice”, particularly in the face of poverty and illiteracy.’

    The best way to deepen the freedom of the people to express their free will is to improve on election technology that helps to reduce the tendency of human inference and compromise. By advancing election technology, we can reduce the logistical challenges in delayed delivery of electoral materials, reduce widening apathy, eliminate ballot box fraud and reduce electoral violence.

    We have barely two years and five months to the 2027 general elections, to restore voters’ confidence. INEC must galvanize relevant stakeholders to amend Sections 40, 60, 64, among others sections of the Electoral Act, 2022 to ensure that the accreditation, voting, collation and announcement components of the electoral process, which is mainly a manual process at the moment, is made hybrid, allowing for the BVAs to be used for both accreditation and voting, with votes cast reflecting real-time. INEC must further continue to develop a safe technology for digital voting – every eligible electorate should be able to vote from anywhere in the world.

    Voting should be through a hybrid model that allows for physical and digital voting, ballot paper should only be allowed as a last resort in cases where both the BVAs and digital voting channels fail. Like the NBA voting portal, once you verify your unified unique identification number, the voting portal should direct you to select and vote your candidates of choice, and click submit to cast your vote.

     Notwithstanding that some countries have tried e-voting and had to stop, due to concerns about digital security and reliability, Nigeria must continue to develop its version of e-voting technology. No doubt, there will be challenges, particularly with merely 43.53 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria as at February, and the unavoidable possibility of cyber-attack on such platform, our electoral legal framework must broaden the scope of treason to include cyber-attack on our electoral infrastructures such as the e-voting platform.

    Those who hold the backward brief that poor internet services, possible voting platform breach, likely conflict of interest, and other related challenges, are sufficient reasons to continue to conduct analogue and easily manipulated elections, must first realize that it is not possible that there is an impossible social problem that cannot be solved with a rational, purposeful, transformational, focused, resilient and sincerely transparent leadership.

    •Ekpa a lawyer and leadership consultant wrote via ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com