The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Inec

  • Security agencies disperse SDP protesters at INEC, barricade office

    Security agencies disperse SDP protesters at INEC, barricade office

    Security agencies have dispersed supporters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State at the Secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Lokoja, to protest what they termed “INEC’s dubious tampering with election materials”.

    The security agencies moved in on Wednesday to prevent an attack on the INEC Office, dispersing the protesters with tear gas while barricading the road leading to the office. 

    The protest started peacefully until some of the SDP supporters started throwing harmful objects and harassing passers-by. 

    The SDP protesters were demanding that the election materials be moved to Abuja.

    One of the protesters Danjuma told newsmen that they were sure the materials at the INEC Office had been compromised by the APC. 

    Read Also: Kogi: If anything happens to INEC office, hold SDP responsible – APC

    “We have it on good authority that the APC and Yahaya Bello have tampered with the election materials. The materials they are taking to the tribunal have already been doctored. So we are calling on INEC to take the original material to INEC, or we will make Kogi State ungovernable. 

    “Those who stole the mandate of Kogi East must not live to enjoy it. We are calling on the President and also the National Chairman of INEC to ensure the doctored materials are immediately replaced with the original ones before they are presented at the tribunal. Anything other than that will be resisted,” he said.

    When contacted, the Director, Media and Publicity/Spokesperson of the Kogi APC Governorship Campaign Council, Kingsley Fanwo, dismissed the allegations as senseless and called on the authorities to call the SDP to order.

    He said the APC would assess the situation and issue an official statement on it later, noting that “the SDP people know they have no evidence to back their claims. They are playing the victim to cover their shame.”

    He, however, said the SDP should allow the Tribunal to sit peacefully and give INEC the breathing space to do their work as required by the law.

    Usman Ododo of the APC won the November 11 governorship election with a wide margin, polling 446,237 votes to defeat his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of the SDP, who got 259,052 votes. Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 46,362 votes.

  • INEC, political parties absent as NASS begin process of electoral reform

    INEC, political parties absent as NASS begin process of electoral reform

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the 19 registered political parties in the country were on Tuesday, November 28, absent at a citizens town hall meeting on Electoral Reform as the National Assembly joint Committee on Electoral Matters began the process of reforming the electoral system. 

    While the Electoral body was reportedly not invited for the event by the organisers because it is the first phase of the exercise, it was not clear whether the political parties were invited. 

    At the event which took place at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Abuja Continental Hotel, stakeholders advocated the unbundling of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a comprehensive review of the process of appointment of Chairman National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners. 

    Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega said the appointment of INEC officials and the process of screening them has not been thorough. 

    He also said the commission should be unbundled to allow for proper administration of the electoral process by the commission as it presently has too many load on its hands. 

    He also ask the National Assembly to outlaw cross carpeting of elected officials, adding that jumping from one party to the other by elected official undermine the very essence of the nation’s democracy. 

    While describing the 2022 Electoral Act as the electoral law in the country so far, Prof. Jega said it unbecoming of electee officials to abandoned the party on whose platform they elected and jump to another party. 

    He also called for strict application of the law which requires such electes officials to resign their mandate and face another round of election, adding that the electoral act mustake it difficult for electes officials to cross carpet. 

    Jega also said that the nation’s constitution and the Electoral Act must set certain parameters that must be met by political parties before fielding candidates for Presidential elections. 

    He said Nigeria remain the only countyin the world where people register political parties and within a short period, they are fielding Presidential candidates when they cannot must one percent of the total vote cast. 

    Read Also: Kogi: If anything happens to INEC office, hold SDP responsible – APC

    He said the law must be made in a way that it will ensure that nobody is allowed to contest the Presidential election unless the party meet certain criterials, saying doing so will reduce expenditure on the part of the commission. 

    Founder of TAF foundation, Jack Ekpele said the electoral laws must be reformed to allow persons with disabilities participate fully in the electoral process, not only as voters, but as candidates, saying persons with disabilities also want to be voted for. 

    Ekpele also said that attention in the electoral process need to go beyond INEC and focus on what is going on at the grassroot level and what can be done at the local government level. 

    He also want the political party restructured as there were too many parties without action, while also advocating for electoral security for the vulnerable group in the country

  • PHOTOS: LP’s Achonu, supporters storm INEC HQ

    PHOTOS: LP’s Achonu, supporters storm INEC HQ

    LP’s Achonu, supporters storm INEC HQ

    Read Also: #ImoDecides: I have great hope for our democracy – LP candidate Achonu

  • Fear of long shadow

    Fear of long shadow

    • By Oghenejirokowho Olokor

    These are unusual times in politics and for politicians. Despite the dubious perception that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) platform introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has had limited impact on making the people’s vote count, the stunning victory of Labour Party’s Peter Obi in Lagos is one sterling outcome pundits have been unable to dismiss as something that could have been impossible to achieve without the BVAS in the presidential poll.

    Similarly, the outcome of the presidential and gubernatorial election in Oyo State where Governor Seyi Makinde never disguised his disapproval of PDP’s unimaginative and provocative choice of its presidential candidate showed that he was able to give vent to his stance on equity without jeopardizing his re-election as governor of his state.

    In Delta State where the National Assembly election’s outcome have been affirmed by the courts, the fact that APC comfortably picked two of three senatorial seats has made it implausible to logically explain the emergence of a political place holder that was single-handedly made the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as governor. And he it was who foisted the same on the state to continue a third agenda.

    And the toxic nature of the charade has not taken long to unravel. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has been unable to fill two critical portfolios – Information and Justice – because he has been unable to obtain the green light of the real power behind the stolen throne. Even the motley crowd of inexperienced and visionless men and women that were made commissioners has not been able to initiate any move on actual governance. Six months into the place-holding  administration, all they do is inspect ongoing projects where they go through the motion without movement.

    In Delta State, the people now derisively call them “POINTus pilates”, reminiscent of when Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu genuinely inspected projects he was executing. But can the commissioners be blamed? Of course not. They simply lack leadership. Governor Oborevwori has not done anything to inspire them.

    Read Also: PDP tasks INEC on BVAS, IReV for Nov 11 polls

    Rather, Oborevwori has been overtaken by the fear of the inevitable. Having seen how the innovative measures introduced by INEC are now used to uphold the people’s verdict and bearing in mind the overwhelming victory of the Delta APC in the Senate election, the governor has basically abandoned governance in pursuit of illusive political straws to hang on to.

    That the people of Delta State have been yearning for genuine change in leadership is not lost on the place holder governor. They saw in Ovie Omo-Agege the fresh path to development. Oborevwori knows how the electoral process was brazenly manipulated to put him in power. He knows that unlike the Election Petitions Tribunal which operated under a very challenging atmosphere in Delta State, his “victory” will not stand the independent scrutiny of higher courts.

    Apparently in anticipation of the fate that awaits them, they have resorted to using fake names to sponsor articles suggesting that Ovie Omo-Agege has been bought over by Chief James Ibori.

    To the uninformed media hacks, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed some of the best hands and technocrats who played very big roles in the massive electoral fortunes of the APC in Delta State is proof of their unfounded allegation. They forgot or just did not know that it was the turn of Delta State to produce the board chairman of NDDC in addition to a statutory representative of the state in the board.

    If Deltans are yearning for a new leadership that will bring the state out of perfidy that was its unfortunate lot under Okowa, and Ibori is a Deltan and leader, then he has made the right call. This is not to suggest that there is such development between Ibori and Omo-Agege. The former Deputy President of the Senate has always been his own man. He has a road map to accelerating the development of Delta which the people have bought into.

    As our people say, when a man fouls his community, the sight of his ever constant shadow evokes morbid fear in him. For Oborevwori and his group, the time of the long shadow has come.

    • Olokor writes from Asaba.
  • How PDP lost election in Ogun for not bribing INEC, police – Obasanjo

    How PDP lost election in Ogun for not bribing INEC, police – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the 1998 local government election in Ogun state because he turned down plans by the party to bribe the police and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Obasanjo was a member of the PDP from its inception in 1998, he rose to become president of Nigeria on the ticket of the party between 1999 and 2007, Board of Trustees member, and remained till the build-up to the 2015 general elections when he publicly tore his membership card on 16th February 2015 in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

    Recalling the 1998 electoral defeat of the PDP in his home state, the elder statesman said party leaders of the party had notified him that a certain amount of money had been arranged to be given to the police and INEC in connection with the election, but he rejected the proposal on the supposition that that INEC personnel and policemen are government workers who earn steady monthly salaries.

    The former president revealed this at the high-level consultation on ‘Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa’ which began on Monday, November 20, at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta.

    Read Also: Terrorism: Why Nigeria must reduce over-reliance on foreign military hardware – Badaru

    Obasanjo said he is not always comfortable with the phrase, ‘Nigerian factor’, when discussing democracy and other issues affecting development, noting that he came across the ‘Nigerian factor’ slang when the nation held the first local government election and his party (PDP) lost because politicians blamed him for the loss due to his unwillingness or refusal to take cognizance of the Nigerian factor while planning for the election.

    He insisted that the Western liberal democracy being practised in Africa has not given a thought to human nature and the African situation when foisting it on Africans, asserting that a hungry man will sell his vote for just N1000.

    He recalled: “When things go wrong, you said the Nigerian factor. The first thing I learnt in politics was this thing I called the Nigerian factor. In 1998, we had the first local government election. We had parties, and here in Abeokuta, we met in my office and they came up and said, ‘look, this is money for INEC, money for police.’ At a stage I said, ‘what nonsense! Is police not being paid, and INEC too?’

    “They said ‘that’s how we do it. I said ‘you cannot do that.’ So, they didn’t do that. And of course, we lost all the local governments. We lost all. And then they came to me and said, ‘Baba, you see? If you had allowed us to do it the way we used to do it, we would have won.’ m. And I felt guilty.

    “During the next election which was State Assembly, I just stayed in my house. I said ‘well, do whatever you want to do, I will not be part of it’. So, I didn’t even go. But, the result was the same. One of the people who got money didn’t even distribute it to where he was supposed to distribute it.

    “When you are hungry, whatever anybody tells you cannot go in. Poverty is a great enemy of democracy. Ignorance or lack of education is a great enemy of democracy. And we seem to be deliberately fomenting poverty and lack of education.”

  • No problem with INEC but its process –Adebayo

    No problem with INEC but its process –Adebayo

    The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the last general election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, in an online interview, bares his mind on last Saturday’s off-cycle elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states. Excerpts

    Recall after the general election you said you were not going to court even though you claimed the three leading parties  cheated in the election. Are you taking the same approach on the Kogi election?

     This time, I am not the candidate, but he is our candidate.  We supported him. We worked with him, and he himself said the INEC was transparently dishonest and disorganised and that there was no point for him to go to court. The party has met and has reviewed things

     The people, everybody who voted for us, and supporters within and outside Kogi all said let us give INEC an opportunity.  What we are doing now is to believe in INEC, hoping that INEC itself believes in democracy and wants a country that works, and being an entrance institution into government , we want to make sure that INEC itself  allows politicians who come to power to know that institutions must work. So, INEC will review it.

    But if INEC refused to review it, then, we have the option to go to  court, and I think the party at the national level,  Shehu Garba, our national chairman, our national secretary, Dr Olu Agunloye  and members of the NWC have said they are going to court and we are working towards that. Again, we are doing our own review with an open mind. We are not desperate to win. We want to win within the law. We are not out taking the opportunity to throw a shot at INEC. We went into the election with a victory speech or a concession speech. Either way, we are okay. But we found out INEC’s announcement of the result is not in compliance with the law and with the regulation set by INEC. For that reason, INEC as a commission is by law given an opportunity like before where someone could do anything in their name and say sorry, so bad, we can’t do anything about it. Under the new electoral act,  INEC has seven days to do a review and we are giving and assisting INEC  with all information to ensure they listen to other people, including the observers, and I believe INEC should review it. If the review is done properly and thoroughly, even if the review doesn’t favour us, we are SDP, we are a law abiding party, we respect the country, we will abide by it. But if it is not done or poorly done, we would take extra steps on calling on the judiciary to intervene and look into it, and we are making sure that we narrow our claim to the judiciary to things we are sure of.

    You are talking specifically about Kogi, I believe.

    For us, we have serious problems with Kogi. Not only us, other people have. I have heard of similar problems in other states, but we are focusing on Kogi now. Even the governor of Bayelsa State, who has been declared the winner of the election, still said that in some parts of his own state that the BVAS was bypassed. So, if the governor  and the winner of the election also have that observation, then INEC should know that what we are all trying to do is to better the lot of all of us.

    Read Also: FG flags off release of 4,068 inmates

    We are not saying INEC is hopeless. We are not saying so. I believe INEC is a human institution and a necessary institution, and I have confidence that there are good citizens who work in INEC. So, I have no problem  with the INEC but I have problems with the INEC process with which they derived the results in Kogi State  and we have taken every step to warn them before the election day , to warn them even about the irregularities about the voters register ab initio.  They said they were going to look into that. We warned them about disloyalty about many of the operatives, and they said they were going to look into that. In the course of the election , we brought to their attention so many irregularities over voting, fictitious results, and things like that, the returning officer, a certain professor, was highly   uninterested in additional information . He was even threatened to have our man removed. So, he returned the mic to him and said we shall inform INEC officially. Now, we have written a two page petition to INEC clearly stating what happened, giving INEC all the options and citing the law  that enables INEC to do a thorough review and we have not heard from them since Monday when we gave them the letter. There was no telephone call, nothing till now, no reply.

     We believe that we need INEC, whether you call it by any name, you must have an electoral umpire that people can believe in.  Nigeria is not unfortunate that we cannot have  20 people who cannot run elections in the commission. We cannot be that unfortunate. We need to have confidence in the system, and there is no alternative to democracy. We tried every bad alternative and every good alternative, and we ended up coming back to this same electoral system. I want Nigerians to believe in INEC, in the government , and to believe in democracy and the only way to do that is to continue to interrogate INEC however difficult it may be to raise this question in order to ensure that we get it right.

    What would you do differently to help turn things around, especially around the challenges you enumerated.

    Three things you need to do. Firstly, you need to have good political parties. Maybe parties that look more like SDP, where people do not want to break the law. You could see that nobody has accused us of doing anything wrong.

    Secondly, you have people in institutions who are patriotic, who go there to serve, just to do the right thing.

    Thirdly, when things go wrong like this, we don’t condemn the entire system. You come out to pinpoint errors that we can correct. We, as SDP, we are saying whatever we are complaining about because it is not just to grab power at all costs. It is to make sure we fine-tune the system and correct the errors. Those are the things we can do. There is no country that will not have this kind challenge from time to time. People who don’t deserve to be in certain offices, you will find them there. They will start to misbehave, but we must not throw away everything. Pinpoint where the errors are, shame those that need to be shamed, and remove those that need to be removed and correct what needs to be corrected. What has been done to the SDP now , they will not see the end of it until we get justice.

    You tried but failed to win the presidency. Where do you stand now politically?

    What stands for me is to make sure that the government gets full and maximum support of the citizens, and at the same time, we give them criticisms regarding so many errors they are committing, as you can see now. It’s one error or the other every day. We criticize them to correct those errors. And we organise our people to have a culture of democracy. That is why we worked very hard in Kogi and other states. We will keep working to ensure we give our people an alternative. We must not be demoralised in the opposition whereby everybody will run towards the ruling party.

    What will I do now with all the frustration?  Will I go and join the APC, which I don’t agree with, because 99.9% of their policies I don’t agree with? I won’t.  So, we will continue to be where we are in the opposition, but we will continue to be loyal to the country and respectful to the government  and then ensure that the system works. That is all I am about now.

  • Off-cycle election: Adebayo issues seven-day ultimatum to INEC to review Kogi election

    Off-cycle election: Adebayo issues seven-day ultimatum to INEC to review Kogi election

    The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the last presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo has berated the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), over the conduct of last Saturday’s off-cycle elections in Imo Bayelsa and Kogi states respectively.

      Adebayo lamented that the elections ought to have been very simple considering the fact that it was only in three states unlike what was obtained in February and March when elections were conducted in the 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    Read Also: INEC presents Certificates of Return to Uzodimma, Diri, Ododo

    Consequently, he has given the electoral body seven days to review the results of the Kogi elections or risk being seen as an agency not serious about conducting credible elections and determined to waste citizens’ time.

    He also noted that if the review is done properly and thoroughly, his party, the SDP, would continue to be law-abiding irrespective of whether it favours them or not.

    “Even if the review doesn’t favour us, we are SDP and a law-abiding party and we respect the country, so we will abide by it. But if it is not done or poorly done, we would take extra steps to call on the judiciary to intervene and look into it, and we are making sure that we narrow our claim to the judiciary on the things we are sure of,” he added.

  • INEC presents Certificates of Return to Uzodimma, Diri, Ododo

    INEC presents Certificates of Return to Uzodimma, Diri, Ododo

    Incumbent governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma , his Bayelsa State counterpart, Douye Diri and newly elected governor of Kogi  State, Usman Ododo were yesterday presented with their Certificates of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

     The three of them emerged winners in the November 11 off-cycle governorship elections held in their various states.

    Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma and his deputy, Mrs. Chinyere Ekomaru, were presented their Certificates of Return at the Rockview Hotel Owerri, by  INEC’s Supervising  National Electoral  Commissioner in Imo State, Ken Ukeagu.

    Ukeagu  said the certificates were issued to them within 14 days as stipulated by the Affirmation Act.

    Presenting the certificates, he said: “In compliance with the mandatory  provision of the Act, I have the honour and privilege  in my capacity as the Supervising Electoral Commissioner to present the Certificate of Return to the governor and the deputy governor-elect respectively who won the governorship  election held on Saturday 11th November  2023 in Imo State.”

    He assured the people  of Imo State and Nigerians in general that the commission would continue to build and improve on the gains recorded so far and will never waver in upholding the sanctity  of the ballot as well as the continuous improvement of electoral process generally.

    Speaking,  Governor Uzodimma promised to provide an all inclusive government  where the interest of every Imo citizenry will be accommodated.

    “My desire is to leave a legacy of rancour free politics that gives all zones a realistic entitlement to the governorship of the state. I once again extend an olive branch to all aggrieved persons and groups and invite them to join  hands with me to work to grow  our state and make it an envy of other states.”

    It was all smiles in Bayelsa as Governor Diri, and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo were presented their Certificates of Return by the INEC National Commissioner for Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu.

    The presentation took place  at exactly 11:11am at the state headquarters of the commission in Yenagoa.

    The duo were the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election that had 15 other contestants.

     Mrs. Agbamuche-Mbu said presenting the Certificate of Return by the commission was a statutory provision in fulfillment of section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which also stated that the presentation must be done within 14 days following the declaration of a winner.

    Read Also:JUST IN: INEC presents Certificates of return to Ododo, Deputy

    She thanked stakeholders for their commitment and contributions toward the peaceful conduct of the election and equally appreciated staff of the commission who displayed exceptional level of dedication to their job.

    On behalf of INEC, she also congratulated the governor and his deputy over their victory at the poll and wished them a successful second tenure in office.

    Governor Diri in his acceptance speech said: “Presenting the certificate of return was almost becoming another issue as some were brandishing results of 85,000 votes in their pockets and saying that the certificate would not be issued to those declared winners in Bayelsa State. So, this event has brought to rest all those speculations that have been all over the country.

    “After thanking God for today’s event, I also thank the Independent National Electoral Commission, from the chairman to the supervising commissioner to the REC and the administrative secretary as well as all the staff.”

    Diri’s victory continued to receive applause as marine magnate, Chief Emonena Wayles Egukawhore, yesterday congratulated him on his re-election.

    Speaking  in a statement in Warri, Delta State, Egukawhore, who is the Chairman of De Wayles Group of Companies, affirmed that Diri’s victory was no surprise, but a clear attestation of the “faith, trust and confidence”  the people of Bayelsa reposed on him.

    He stated: “On behalf of myself and my family, I join the Grassroots Movement for Good Governance to congratulate and salute Senator Duoye Diri on his re-election as the executive governor of Bayelsa State.

    “Your victory at the polls did not come as a surprise and it is a clear attestation of the faith, trust and confidence the people of Bayelsa State repose on you on account of your accomplishments in the last four years.”

    The victory dance of the newly elected governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, and his running mate, Joel Salifu, also  continued yesterday with the presentation of their Certificates of Return by INEC.

    The certificates were presented at the INEC headquarters in Lokoja.

    Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gabriel Longpet, who presented the certificates said the governor-elect  was  presented with the certificate having met the constitutional requirements.

    Speaking shortly after receiving his certificate, Ododo  assured the people that he would make good his campaign promise to build on the sterling achievements of Governor Yahaya Bello while preserving the unity of the state.

    Promising to run an all-inclusive government, Ododo said: “My victory at last Saturday’s election is a victory for all. We will run an all-inclusive administration, where everyone, irrespective of tribe, religion, and political affiliation, will be carried along.”My administration will be committed to sustaining the youth and women empowerment programs of the present administration. My resolve to provide employment for our teeming youths and ensure that education occupies the front burner of our administration remains unchanged.”

    The outgoing governor, Yahaya Bello who witnessed the ceremony. He said:  “The election has come and gone and a winner has emerged. I call on the people of the state to work towards the unity and togetherness our administration has achieved.”

  • Group hails INEC, security agencies for off-season elections

    Group hails INEC, security agencies for off-season elections

    A political group under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Campaign Organisation (BCO), has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) and the security agencies for the peaceful conduct of elections in Imo and Kogi states.

    The group, in a statement by its National Patron, Alhaji Abdulwahab Korede Quardi (FCIB), National Coordinator, QS Mohammed Makinta (FNIQS) and National Women’s Leader, Alhaja Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, described the polls as peaceful and most credible since the advent of democracy in the states.

    The group, while congratulating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and All Progressive Congress, said that the victory during the November 11 off circle elections affirmed the trust of the people in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates.

    It said: “We commend INEC and the security agencies for the peaceful conduct of elections in Imo and Kogi states”.

    Read Also: JUST IN: INEC presents Certificates of return to Ododo, Deputy

    “We also congratulate our national leader and President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and our party, All Progressive Congress (APC), for the resounding victories in last Saturday’s off-circle elections”.

    “The elections were hard-fought on all sides. So these victories are very sweet and will be savoured for a long time by our great party, the APC and our supporters throughout Nigeria and across the world.

    “This victory affirms the trust of the Nigerian people in our great party, the APC and its candidates.

    “We are confident that Governor Hope Uzodimma will consolidate and extend the impressive accomplishments of his first term in Imo State, while Alhaji Usman Ododo, on his part, will build on the solid record of the outgoing APC administration in Kogi State”.

    “We thereafter cease this opportunity to plead with all mischief makers against the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is currently working round the clock to ensure Nigeria regains its honour, strength, unity and development” BCO added.

  • 2023 polls: INEC had many positive outcomes — Expert

    2023 polls: INEC had many positive outcomes — Expert

    A public commentator and human rights activist Dr. Chima Mathew Amadi has stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had many positive outcomes despite some challenges in the 2023 elections.

    He noted that most of the post-election assessment of the elections has unfairly been narrowed down to the deployment of the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Instant Result Viewing portal, IReV.

    Amadi averred that any credible assessment of elections in Nigeria has to appraise the entire process from start to finish, and not pick at parts of the process in isolation.

    He said the media faced myriad of challenges in the performance of their roles in the 2023 general elections, noting that among these was the deployment of fake news which was done blatantly and effectively by major political players.

    Read Also: Money my love language, says Mr Eazi

    Amadi made the observations in his presentation titled: “post-2023 general elections: assessing the roles played by the media, INEC, security agencies and others” in Uyo at the ongoing All Nigerian Editors Conference.

    He explained that the public often got its information and had its narrative shaped by opinions on social media by political players, most of whom had agendas.

    Amadi said: “For instance, over a 4-year period between 2019 and 2023 there were 50 attacks on INEC facilities in the country. A breakdown shows that in 2019, INEC recorded eight attacks; 22 in 2020, 12 in 2021, and eight in 2022. The incidents occurred in Osun, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Imo, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Borno, and Taraba states.

    “One is of the opinion that not enough media spotlight was given to these attacks which were obviously done to weaken the capacity of the electoral umpire to conduct free and fair elections.”

    He explained that some other challenges faced by INEC includes, most of which were not of its own making, included the cashless policy of the government, internal sabotage of the electoral process by some Resident Election Commissioners (RECs) and ad-hoc staff

    He said: “one cannot complete an assessment of INEC’s role in the 2023 elections without commenting on the poor conduct of INEC permanent and ad-hoc staff in isolated incidents across the country.

    “We had instances of senior officials going rogue like in Adamawa State, where the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), declared a candidate winner without due process of any sort of legal authority to do so.

    “We also had instances where ad-hoc staff, retained to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, received monetary inducements to sabotage the same processes. We all know that many Nigerians see the elections as an opportunity to cash out and indeed create pockets of challenges in the process.

    Amadi said despite all of this challenge, the 2023 election was the first election in the last 12 years that was not postponed.

    Speaking on the role politicians played during the poll, he said political class remains the biggest challenge to the electoral system itself

    He said, “It is ironic that politicians pose the biggest threat to a democratic process. However, the winner takes all nature of our political system means that politicians have the most incentive to subvert the process. And over the years, they have demonstrated the willingness and desperation to subvert it.

    “It is now evident that the first step towards ensuring freer and more credible elections must resolve with designing systems that limit the influence politicians have over the electoral process. And this limitation must begin with reducing the influence politicians have over the appointment and employment of permanent and ad-hoc staff of the Commission.”