Oga Yakubu give Inec pass mark despite EU & oda reports on 2023 general elections

Di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) don submit say di just concluded 2023 general elections produce di most diverse outcome wey Nigeria don record since 1999.

Di Chairman of di electoral body, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and members of di commission tok as dem review di 2023 general elections for one meeting dem hold wit di Resident Electoral Commissioners (Rec) for Inec Headquarters for Abuja, di kontri capital.

Dis na di first time Inec go break dia silence on di election afta plenty dragging on social media say di commission tamper and do magomago wit di election result.

Nigeria 2023 general election fit don come and go but e still get effect.

Afta di result of di elections especially di presidential election Inec declaration of Tinubu as winner, tok-tok don dey go round about di process.

Some political parties, candidates, observers and analysts for various gatherings don also question di role of Inec during di general elections wey hold for February and March across Nigeria.

As pipo still dey wait di tribunal decision, di ginger on top tok-tok around di elections result don enta gear two sake of di recent release of di final report on di finding by one of di foreign election observer missions, di European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM), for di elections.

However, Inec Chairman, Yakubu for dia review don explain say unlike wetin dey happun for previous elections wey to a large extent, pipo fit determine which political party or candidates go win di election, dis time around no be so, as di results for some places shock Nigerians and di era wey be say na one single party go clear di election don pass.

“Despite di different opinions about di outcome of di election, di overall outlook suggest say na fair reflection of a complex multi-party democracy.

“Today five political parties produce state govnors, seven parties win Senatorial seats, eights dey represented for di House of Representatives and nine parties dey di State Houses of Assembly.

“Clearly di 10th National Assembly na di one wey get representations from different political parties since 1999.

“Wetin dey clear from these records also na say, did days of single party dominance of our national politics probably don go.

Inec chairmo say di review go focus on all aspects of di electoral activities before, during and afta di elections.

2023 elections ‘most prepared’ – Yakubu

For dia review, di Nigeria electoral body confam say compared to previous elections, di 2023 general elections na di one wey dem prepare for di most in recent times.

Di commission dem bin learn from previous experiences and dem start to dey prepare for di election immediately afta di 2019 general election, as dem carefully tick di boxes over a four-year period.

Introduction of BVAS and how e work

On di use of di Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (Bvas), one technology Inec use during di 2023 elections, di kontri electoral body say dem record 98 per cent success rate compared to di 29.2% wey di Smart Card Readers wey dem use for di 2019 general elections record.

Bvas na di machine di electoral body use to accredit voters plus dia Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and fingerprints or face recognition technology.

Some Nigerians bin complain say dem no dey accredited early sake of say di Bvas fail to capture dia data.

One of di pipo wey bin fall victim na di former govnor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike wey gatz wait for some hours before e fit vote during di election.

Di Bvas machine bin fail to accredit im and im wife during di presidential election afta three attempts.

Also some political parties wey dey election petition tribunal to challenge di outcome of di 2023 general elections also don complain say Inec fail to comply wit di Electoral Act 2022, wey allow for di electronic transmission of results in real time.

Electoral offenders

Di Nigeria electoral body say dem don receive 215 case files from di Nigeria Police on arrest and investigations dem don carry out on di electoral offences wey arise from di 2023 general election.

Inec also say dem dey chook eye for di activities of all actors wey dey involved for di election, including some of dia high-ranking officials.

Di commission add say dem dey work wit di Nigerian Bar Association to prosecute alleged offenders.

“I fit confam say di Nigeria Police don don conclude dia investigation on di conduct or our Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa state and dem don submit di file case to us,” Oga Yakubu tok.

Security plus oda challenges

Di commission say di election day dey largely peaceful.

Plus concerns say di election no go go smoothly sake of security issues across di kontri no work.

“Di security challenge wey bin threaten to derail di elections no materialise. Concerns say perennial insecuryt across di kontri go scata di polls fizzle out on election day as di elections dey largely peaceful.

E also tok about concerns on currency swap becos na around dat time many Nigerians bin dey experience naira scarcity sake of di new naira design policy.

“Despite currency and fuel challenges and widespread attacks on our personnel and facilities nationwide, di commission bin go ahead wit di election as scheduled,” Oga Yakubu tok.

Petitions

Di EU-EOM, wey work for Nigeria for three months between January 11 and April 11, 2023 and bin get 110 accredited observers from 25 EU member states plus Norway, Switzerland, and Canada.

According to di Chief Observer for di Mission and member of di European Parliament, Barry Andrews comot wit di report wet im say dey in accordance wit di EU-EOM usual practice note say di comma for law and administration no make dem conduct beta abd inclusive elections and scata di trust for INEC.

Di mission offer 23 recommendations wey Nigerian authorities fit consider to fit improve future elections.

Andrews say, “we dey chook eye for di need for reforms for six areas we don see as primary and we believe say fit make improvement dey for di conduct of future elections.”

Some political parties, wey include di Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and di Labour Party (LP) plus dia candidates, currently dey challenge di credibility and outcome of di elections for di Election Petition Tribunal court.

Di PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, plus im LP counterpart, Peter Obi, bin file petitions for di Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to challenge INEC declaration of Bola Tinubu of di All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of di 25 February presidential election.