The just concluded 2023 general elections have been adjudged to have fallen short of citizens’ expectations, owing to late arrival of election materials and INEC officials to polling units, inability of the BVAS to promptly transmit accredited persons, intimidation and attacks on voters, among other irregularities. This was disclosed in a preliminary/interim report of the Justice Development and Peace Centre (JDPC), on the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections held in Lagos State, on Saturday, February 25, 2023, signed by Very Rev. Fr. Raymond Anoliefo, Executive Director, Justice Development and Peace Center (JDPC), Lagos. According to the report, the JDPC Lagos Observation Mission deployed 172 domestic observers and hundreds of citizen observers across all the Local Government Areas in Lagos State, adding that the JDPC conducted its election observation activities following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s laid down guidelines for domestic observers. The JDPC said that the PVC distribution exercise carried out by INEC went smoothly in many parts of the country as a total of 87,009,008 PVCs were collected by registrants. it however noted that the process of PVC distribution between December 12, 2022, and February 5, 2023, was marred by administrative lapses which resulted in a significant number of registrants being unable to access their PVCs.
They pointed out logistic challenges which negatively affected the smooth conduct of the elections, ranging from late arrival of INEC staff and materials to polling units and cases where INEC officials turned up without the stamp pads and ink required for the voting exercise. The report read in part: “According to our data, INEC officials and election materials arrived early (7.30 am to 8.30 am) in only about 37.5% of the polling units, while there were recorded late arrivals (8.36 am to 11.45 am) in 62.5% of the polling units where the elections were observed in Lagos State. This is clearly abysmal. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was effectively used for the purpose of accreditation and voting across the country. BVAS malfunction was reported in some locations but in such instances, attempts were made by the electoral body to replace them. 99% of our observers reported that accreditation was carried out with the use of the BVAS, while 1% reported that it was conducted manually in their polling units. Commending Nigerians for the efforts and sacrifices they made to participate actively in the electoral process from the period of voter registration to voting at the polling units, the JDPC noted the huge gap between the number of registered voters and those who came out to vote. On challenges in the electronic transfer of results from all polling units, the JDPC said that in few places where it was done after so much rancour, the results were uploaded offline, as they added that this has greatly undermined the entire process and voter’s trust in the results that was announced by INEC.
The JDPC recommended that INEC should address the issues experienced with the BVAS machines and ensure that only authentic results collated from the polling units are uploaded to its IREV portal. The report further stated: “From our observation, it is clear that some results from the polling units were doctored, while some others were not uploaded at all, even though the INEC state collation centre has announced the result of the elections in Lagos state. “Polling unit officials should be adequately trained on election procedures and there should be consistency in their work across the board. We observed that many polling officers were not particularly conversant with the procedures and processes, especially in the use of the BVAS machine.” They enjoined INEC to investigate cases of voter intimidation and violence across the state, as well as arrest and prosecute culprits that are known by the voters and the members of the community. They also asked INEC to take adequate steps to ensure the timely deployment of electoral materials and polling officials to designated polling units during the March 11 Governorship and State Assembly Elections to avoid the challenges that were experienced at the last elections. The commission noted that the expectations of Nigerians were not met in the election held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, for credible, free and fair elections. According to JDPC, “Rather than improve the credibility deficits of the 2019 election, the recent election seems to have increased them and weakened the process further. INEC has not generally covered itself with glory in the conduct of the elections and the seeming contradictions inherent in what the electoral umpire promised us and what they delivered. We urge INEC to do all that it can to restore confidence in the electoral process”.
