Our reporter/ The European Union (EU) election observation mission in Nigeria on Tuesday said the recently concluded general election in the country exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and lack of transparency by the electoral umpire that need to be corrected.
The mission made the disclosure while presenting its final report on the 2023 general election in Abuja.
Barry Andrews, the chief observer, who presented the report, said their conclusions was based on the analysis of compliance with Nigeria’s regional and international commitments for democratic elections.
“This was the seventh EU election observation mission in the country since 1999, attesting to the EU’s strong commitment to Nigeria’s democracy,” Andrews said.
“In the lead-up to the 2023 general election, Nigerian citizens demonstrated a clear commitment to the democratic process. That said, the election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signal a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.”
Although Andrews noted that a positive aspect of the voter registration process was active youth engagement, with two-thirds of the 9.5 million new registrants being young people, he said the collection of permanent voter cards (PVC) was adversely affected by poor institutional planning and a lack of transparency.
“To ensure the accuracy and inclusiveness of the voter register, an external independent audit would be beneficial,” he added.
The chief observer noted that additional factors like cash scarcity and different kinds of violence contributed to a flawed democratic process.
Andrews said campaigns were competitive, evidenced by the large attendance of rallies by different political parties and candidates but added that the naira and fuel scarcity suppressed voter participation on election day.
“In addition, the EU EOM recorded cases of undue interference by governors, while the campaign was also marred by internal party conflicts. Personality-focused canvassing and misuses of incumbency by governors tilted the playing field, leading to increased polarisation driven by divisive rhetoric based on ethnicity and religion,” he said.
“Our mission recorded more than 100 campaign-related violent incidents, including assassinations. These and other criminal acts obstructed the campaign, disrupted the elections, and suppressed voter participation.
“Weaknesses in the legal framework for these electoral offences and others such as misuse of state resources, intimidation and vote-buying contributed to inadequate enforcement. Key state institutions, including INEC, but also political parties, failed to tackle these problems.”
The EU election observation mission applauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for introducing some positive measures like an increased number of polling units and the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) early in the electoral process but noted that the actions did not buy public confidence in the electoral body.
“Public confidence in INEC 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 seemed to have a positive impact, overall trust was not restored and eventually led civil society to call for an independent audit of the entire process.
“Prior to the elections, selection processes were questioned leaving the institution vulnerable to mistrust.”
Andrews said a lack of transparency surrounded the use of the bimodal BVAS and the INEC results viewing portal (IReV) which contradicted the integrity and credibility of the elections.
“We believe that these vulnerabilities can be effectively addressed by establishing a robust operational framework for the independence, integrity, and efficiency of electoral administration through an inclusive and publicly accountable
mechanism for selecting candidates for the posts of INEC commissioners and RECs based on clear criteria of evaluation of merits, qualifications, and verified non-partisanship.”
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