There is demand on Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to evaluate the recent general elections in 2023, where there is evidence of irregularities.
Some civil society organisations (CSOs) in the nation, including Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Transparency International (TI), and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), have urged the commission to check for evidence of electoral irregularities and to investigate claims of voter intimidation and vote buying in accordance with the law.
According to a report issued by its leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, INEC should examine elections where fraud has been proven.
“INEC must review all evidence of electoral malpractices presented before it,” Rafsanjani said in the report compiled by the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG).
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According to the TMG report, which was signed by its chairman Rafsanjani, “There were accusations of voter suppression and intimidation with threats of repercussions as issued by well-known allies of several highly regarded figures in the country in the run-up to the elections.
“The failure of the security operatives to apprehend and prosecute issuant of such threats, further emboldened them to unleash mayhem on citizens on election day.
“The gubernatorial elections were further challenged by incidents of voter apathy in many states across the country following diminished confidence in the electoral umpire as a result of the outcome of the presidential election. This becomes a major drawback on the nation’s electoral process considering the increasing spate of voter education in the country.”
“The police have the authority to stamp out these individuals no matter who they are connected to. The police must move to arrest those individuals and bring them to justice to serve as a deterrent in future elections.
“All arrested electoral offenders must be prosecuted in public knowledge while investigations continue to arrest those not in the police net yet. Furthermore, the sponsors of those thugs who unleashed mayhem on innocent Nigerians who only sort to express their constitutional guaranteed rights must be fished out and prosecuted in public knowledge.
“INEC must review all evidence of electoral malpractices presented before it. EFCC and ICPC should continue with their good work to reduce the commercialization of vote buying and arrest both the enablers, middlemen, and receivers during the upcoming elections.
“TMG commends INEC on lessons learnt from the presidential poll which has been brought to improve the state elections. As seen from the efficient logistic deployment and functionality of the technological introductions, Nigeria’s electoral system has the potential to bring about credible elections, it is to the extent which the commission is allowed to independently manage the elections that hinders credible elections in the country. INEC must strive to eliminate human interference especially with result management.
