The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) for Nigeria’s 2023 General Elections has revealed that at least 74 people lost their lives from some 101 violent incidents before, during and after the elections, which was adjudged as a horror movie by some observers.
EU EOM made the revelation in its “Final Report General Elections 25 February and 18 March 2023” released on June 28, 2023.
The group began the Final Report with an Executive Summary, which noted that “the 2023 general elections did not ensure a well-run transparent, and inclusive democratic process as assured by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”.
It further noted that public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged during the presidential poll and was not restored in state level elections, leading civil society to call for an independent audit of the entire process.
“The pre-poll environment was volatile and challenging, affected by economic crises.
“Fundamental freedoms of assembly and movement were broadly respected, yet the full enjoyment of the latter was impeded by insecurity in some parts of the country.
“Abuse of incumbency by various political office holders distorted the playing field and wide-spread vote buying detracted from an appropriate conduct of the elections.
“Incidents of organised violence shortly before and on election days in several states created an environment deterring voter’s participation.
“Media raised voters’ awareness, fact-checkers stood up against disinformation and civil society demanded INEC’s accountability.
“The overall outcome of the polls attests to the continued underrepresentation of marginalised groups in political life.
“Positively, candidates and parties disputing outcomes took their complaints to the courts, although the number of such cases was extensive,” the report stated.
It also emphasised that “fundamental freedoms of assembly, association, and expression, while constitutionally guaranteed, were not always well protected”.
The Mission also faulted the widely welcomed Electoral Act 2022 (the 2022 Act) which was expected to introduce measures aimed at building stakeholder trust.
It said: “The Act’s first test in a general election revealed crucial gaps in terms of INEC’s accountability and transparency, proved to be insufficiently elaborated, and lacked clear provisions for a timely and efficient implementation.
“Weak points include a lack of INEC independent structures and capacities to enforce sanctions for electoral offences and breaches of campaign finance rules.
“Furthermore, the presidential selection of INEC leadership at federal and state level leaves the electoral institution vulnerable to the perception of partiality.”
It further knocked INEC for a disappointing outing, having enjoyed broad stakeholder trust after it introduced a series of positive measures to strengthen the conduct of the elections early in the process.
However, it observed, “closer to the polls some started to doubt INEC’s administrative and operational efficiency and in-house capacity.
“Public confidence gradually decreased and was severely damaged on 25 February due to its operational failures and lack of transparency.
“While some corrective measures introduced before the 18 March elections were effective, overall trust was not restored.”
It stated further: “A critical failure in the entire election process manifested at collation stage on 25 February, due to widespread disorganisation, a lack of adherence to prescribed procedures, and an unsuitable environment.
“By the time of the declaration of presidential results, one quarter of result forms were still missing from the IReV, and a significant percentage of the forms uploaded on IReV, often needed for comparison with manual results, were not legible.”
Despite the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), widely seen as an important step to ensure the integrity and credibility of the elections, the Mission said that INEC “failed” public test of credibility.
“In practice, multiple missteps and lack of transparency before the polls, compounded by severely delayed display of presidential result forms, dashed the public trust in election technologies used.
“INEC failed to give a timely and comprehensive explanation for the failures on 25 February, hence the improved online display of results forms from the 18 March state elections just fuelled further speculations about what exactly caused the delays after the presidential poll,” it said.
Respecting those that lost their lives, “the EU EOM recorded 101 violent incidents during the campaign, including at least 74 fatalities.
“Assassination attempts and killings increased closer to the polls, creating a particularly insecure environment in the southern states.
“In several northern states, systematic attacks by political thugs on rallies and political opponents was observed. Use of violence obstructed the campaign, disturbed the elections, and suppressed voter participation,” it added.
Campaigning, the Mission further observed, was also distorted by an influx of unrecorded money and despite campaign finance being comprehensively regulated the law appears largely ineffective.
EU EOM observers said they received reports of and saw widespread distribution of goods and vote buying.
It, meanwhile, hailed the media for offering extensive campaign coverage, with APC and PDP getting equitable exposure.
“Online and offline media joined forces with civil society and fact-checkers to safeguard the integrity of the information environment.
“Real-time fact checking of gubernatorial and other contestants’ debates strived to hold candidates accountable, while various formats of voter information raised awareness,” it added.
As the election moves from the polling units to the court rooms, the Mission observed that the results for many electoral races were disputed in court, with the presidential petitions dominating public discourse.
The judiciary, it said, already challenged by a poor public perception and resources limitations, is now faced with a daunting task with potential significant long term political consequences.
“The general elections highlighted a clear commitment among Nigerian voters to the democratic process but also demonstrated an urgent need for transparent and inclusive legal and operational reforms to tackle enduring systemic weaknesses of the electoral process,” the report stated. Read more.
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