Are Credible Elections Illusions in Nigeria?

The persistent shortcomings of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the conduct of elections in Nigeria have led many Nigerians to doubt whether they will ever witness a truly free, fair and credible election in their lifetime, writes Davidson Iriekpen

Again, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has failed to clear the doubts of many Nigerians on their ability to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria following the outcome of the recently held governorship election in Edo State.

On September 21, the people of Edo went to the polls to elect a successor to the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki.

INEC declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, winner of the election. Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes while his closest challenger, Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 247,274 votes. 

The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata finished with 22,763 votes, according to the commission.

Despite the assurances by INEC and the security agencies that the election would be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, the collation of the results of the election was discredited by the opposition parties and INEC-accredited observers. 

While Ighodalo described the outcome of the election as “one of our darkest moments,” the LP and its candidate, Akpata, declared that the outcome of the poll lacked integrity because the process was characterised by vote-buying and other transactional methods that were antithetical to democratic norms.

Sharing a similar thought, the governorship candidate of Accord Party (AP), Dr. Bright Enabulele, alleged compromise on the side of INEC, describing it as the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history.

For the presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, the election was a mockery of democracy, while the acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagum, described it as a fraud and called on INEC to review the results. 

What started as a peaceful election despite the late arrival of INEC officials in some polling units and the massive vote-buying that characterised the poll across the major political parties, was tainted when INEC disallowed the collation and declaration of the results at the local government levels. 

Instead, it opted for the results to be declared at its state headquarters in Benin City, where allegations of fraud, falsification and alteration of results tainted the collation process.

Many stakeholders had viewed the election as a crucial litmus test for INEC, especially in light of the controversies surrounding the 2023 general election and the off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states. They had expected that INEC would improve on its performance to restore public confidence by conducting free, fair, transparent, and credible polls.

But the PDP alleged inconsistencies in the results recorded at the polling units, the ones entered into Form EC8 and the ones uploaded by officials of the commission on its IReV.

The party also faulted the commission for failing to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily.

Signs that the election would not be free and fair first came when the police were accused of arresting members of the PDP and whisking them to Abuja where they were detained.

Then, there was the revelation that the INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha, is a cousin to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike while the state Commissioner of Police is the minister’s ally in Rivers State. The minister is a known political enemy of Governor Obaseki.

Before the elections, the members of Wike’s political family in Edo State chapter of the PDP led by Chief Dan Orbih had indicated that they would work against their party, the PDP, to ensure the victory of the APC.

The presence of the two strong allies of the FCT minister questioned the neutrality of INEC and the police, and also eroded the credibility of the election.

Unfortunately, INEC and police authorities bluntly refused to redeploy the CP and the REC.

As a sign of what the victory of the APC would mean to the party and the 2027 presidential election, seven APC governors and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, were on ground in the state.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), which monitored the election, issued a damning review of the election, declaring that the results from several polling units were altered at coalition centres.

While the civil society and the Situation Room said the conduct of the election lacked credibility, Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers, also declared the results as lacking integrity.

The Situation Room held that the conduct of the election lacked credibility and added that the result collations, as carried out by INEC, did not adhere to guidelines set out for the exercise.

Co-convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Mimidoo Achakpa, at a press conference in Abuja, highlighted the disruptions at ward and local government collation centres in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor and Oredo local government areas.

Achakpa also noted reports of intimidation of INEC officials and the collation of results in a manner that was contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.

On its part, YIAGA Africa, in a joint statement co-signed by Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, and Samson Itodo, Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, called out rogue officials of INEC over the manipulations.

The group particularly mentioned Ikpoba Okha, Egor, Oredo and Etsako West as among the most prominent local government areas where collation officers altered the figures.

However, the APC has fired back, warning Yiaga Africa against undermining the INEC by questioning the results of the Edo election.

In a press statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Tuesday, the APC criticised Yiaga Africa for allegedly attempting to second-guess INEC’s authority.

“Yiaga Africa is overreaching its election observer mission by second-guessing INEC on the result of last Saturday’s Edo State gubernatorial election.

“INEC is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results. Yiaga Africa is not and must desist from constituting itself as a parallel agency for the declaration of election results,” Morka stated.

Even the statement attributed to the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, in reaction to his party’s victory in the election did not go down well with the opposition parties as it further suggested that elections conducted under INEC would continue to be a mirage.

Ganduje, who spoke in Abuja while celebrating the victory of Okpebholo, said his party would use its template in Edo State governorship election to win the November 16 election in Ondo and also take over Anambra, and other states in the South-east in future elections.

He argued that a big party like the APC ought to have been fully in charge of the South-east geo-political zone.

Many are of the view that Ganduje’s utterances were ominous signs that INEC will not deliver a credible election any time soon.