Nigeria’s 2023 elections damaged public trust in INEC – EU

Nigeria’s general elections in February and March were marred by problems that reduced public trust in voting and the electoral process, the European Union has said in its final assessment of the polls.

EU observers criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying the problems that characterized the presidential, national assembly and governorship elections, “severely damaged” public confidence and trust in the electoral body.

“The 2023 general elections did not ensure a well-run transparent, and inclusive democratic process as assured by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” the report said.

“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.”

– Why this matters

The Feb. 25 presidential election witnessed irregularities across the country, with voters unable to cast their ballot in many areas. Most notably, Inec failed to upload the results from polling units in real time as it repeatedly promised.

President Bola Tinubu was declared winner after winning in 12 states, and has argued despite evidence to the contrary, that the elections were the fairest in the country since 1999.

The major opposition candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party are in court seeking an overturn of the results.

– Learn more

The EU mission said Inec needs to improve in six priority areas, including ensuring real-time publication of and access to election results and clamping down on electoral offences.

It particularly criticised the commission for failing to provide adequate information to Nigerians on the events around the election.

“Public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged due to lack of transparency and operational failures in the conduct of the federal level polls and INEC’s delayed and insufficient explanations for those failures,” it said.

“Until the end of the electoral process, INEC continued to abstain from providing information, limiting its communication to a few press releases and ceremonial statements, and hence failing to address public grievances and rebuild confidence.

“The post-election environment after the presidential results witnessed mounting criticism of and dramatically decreased trust in INEC.”

– INEC denies responsibility

A spokesperson for Inec, Festus Okoye, said the report was “unfair” as it relied on a few glitches.

“If you look at those challenges, you must also look at the context of the elections, also the environment which was surrounded by, one, insecurity in so many parts of the country. Nobody can dispute that,” he was quoted by The Cable as saying.