2023 presidential election not transparent, inclusive — EU EOM

THE European Union Election Observer Mission, EU-EOM, to the 2023 general elections in Nigeria said yesterday that the polls were not transparent, neither were they inclusive as assured by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The EU Chief Observer and the head of the delegation, Barry Andrews, who stated this while presenting the mission’s final report on the election in Abuja yesterday, said the “election exposed enduring systemic weakness and, therefore, signalled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.”

Although he noted some improvements in the conduct of the election, especially the deployment of technology such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV, Andrews lamented that the 2023 general elections did not ensure a well-run transparent and inclusive democratic process as assured by the INEC

He added that public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged during the presidential poll and was not restored at the state level elections of March 18, leading civil society organizations to call for an independent audit of the entire process.

“Early in the process, while enjoying a broad stakeholder trust, INEC introduced a series of positive measures to strengthen the conduct of the elections. However, 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 March 18 elections were effective, overall trust was not restored,” he said.

Andrews explained that the introduction of BVAS and IReV was widely seen as an important steps to ensure the integrity and credibility of the elections, multiple missteps and lack of transparency before the polls, compounded by severely delayed display of the presidential result forms, dashed public trust in election technologies used.

He said:  “INEC failed to give a timely and comprehensive explanation for the failures of February 25, hence the improved online display of results  forms from the March 18state elections just fuelled further speculations about what exactly caused the delays after the presidential poll.

“On February 25 voting was critically delayed by the late arrival of sensitive materials and, during the early stages of the collation, presidential results forms from polling units were not displayed real-time on the IRev as committed by INEC and anticipated by all stakeholders."

“A critical failure in the entire election process manifested at the collation stage on February 25 due to widespread disorganisation, lack of adherence to the prescribed procedures and an unsuitable environment. 

''By the time of the declaration of presidential results, one quarter of the results 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.''

He said with the aim of contributing to the improvement of future elections in Nigeria, the EU EOM is offering 23 recommendations, six of which should be given priority for consideration by the Nigerian authorities.

“We are particularly concerned about the need for reform in six areas which we have identified as priority recommendations, and we believe, if implemented, could contribute to improvements for the conduct of elections,” Andrews said.

The six priority recommendations  include efforts to  remove ambiguities in the law; establish a publicly accountable selection process for INEC members; ensure real-time publication of access to election results;  provide greater protection for media practitioners;  address discrimination against women in political life and punish impunity regarding electoral offenses.

The Chief Observer noted that “importantly, there is a need for political will to achieve improved democratic practices in Nigeria. 

''Inclusive dialogue between all stakeholders on electoral reforms remains crucial. The European Union stands ready to support Nigerian stakeholders in the implementation of these recommendations.”

Culled from Vanguard