One year after 2023 Elections- How to make future elections fair and better

Today makes it one year since the 2023 Presidential elections was held.

Arguably the toughest and most controversial, the poll was the first three-horse race for the presidency.

The winner, President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC and his two other major challenges, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour. Party, LP, fought all the way to the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said the 2023 polls were one of the best in the annals of balloting in Nigeria despite the technical glitch that marred the electronic transmission of the presidential election results.

However, Founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie; National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, Chief Peter Ameh; Publicity Secretary of the LP, Mr Obiora Ifoh; and Phrank Shuaibu, media aide to Atiku Abubakar outlined flaws of the polls they cautioned must be avoided in future elections.

2023 poll: INEC failed woefully, disappointed Nigerians —Chekwas Okorie

Asked his take on the presidential poll one year after, Okorie said: “February 25, 2023, presidential election is a mixed grill of high drama and absurdities. “The INEC raised the hopes of the Nigerian electorate in the build-up to the election. The Commission assured Nigerians that their votes would determine the outcome of the election. The guidelines for the conduct of the general elections were vigorously promoted and canvassed using all known media outlets as well as town hall meetings across the country.

“The most profound assurance by the electoral body was that technology would be deployed in the accreditation of eligible voters, and the transmission of election results from the polling units directly to the INEC IREV portal, which would enable the public to follow the outcome of the elections real-time. All candidates for the elections launched out in the most robust and aggressive campaigns ever witnessed in Nigeria to win the support of Nigerians. INEC failed woefully and disappointed Nigerians. International and Nigerian election monitors, who observed the election passed the most scathing remarks about the poor conduct of the election by INEC.

“It is on record that there has never been any previous general election in Nigeria that was ever so hotly contested in the law courts as the 2023 general election. The tension and fear of the breakdown of law and order in the country remained palpable until the Supreme Court finally resolved the presidential election petition filed by some of the presidential candidates that contested the election in favour of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Nigeria has never been scandalized this much since 1999.

“The Election Petition Tribunals, in the course of hearing the several petitions arising from the elections, exposed the many lacunae in the electoral laws, which corrupt INEC officials took advantage of to manipulate the elections.

“Political parties, Pro-democracy organizations, and critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s democratic process must show more than casual interest in the ongoing review of the electoral act to strengthen and streamline the act to address all ambiguities and confusing clauses such as the status of the Federal Capital Territory in future presidential elections.

The requirement to win 25% of votes cast in at least two-thirds (2/3rd) of the states of the Federation to be declared the winner of the Presidential Election is applicable only in Nigeria. In multi-party democracies all over the world, what is applicable is for a presidential candidate to win at least 50% +1 (fifty percent plus one) of the total votes cast to be declared the winner of the election. In the event that no candidate met this requirement, then the two highest winners of the votes will square up in a re-run election to determine the winner.

“The other parties may very likely be invited by the contesting parties to join them in alliance to win the election and form a coalition government. The NPC/NCNC coalition in the First Republic and the NPN/NPP accord in the Second Republic in Nigeria are good examples of such arrangements, which also addressed the issue of inclusiveness at those times.

“In addition to these suggestions, the recommendations contained in the Justice Mohammed Uwais Report on electoral reforms should be considered, especially regarding the appointment of electoral commissioners, unbundling of INEC etc. We must aim at the full and mandatory electronic voting system in the future. This will allow for all our elections to be held in one day. This will, in turn, eliminate the worrisome bandwagon effect and save Nigeria the huge economic and opportunity costs of shutting down the country for two or more days during elections.”

INEC must be insulated from interference —CUPP

To Chief Peter Ameh, the national secretary of the CUPP, the 2023 presidential was “simply an electoral smash and grab that was validated by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.”
According to him, “in the run up to the election, all the assurances contained in the 2022 Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, such as the accreditation of voters through the means of BVAS, and real-time uploading of results from the polling units to the IREV through the same BVAS were rather observed in breach by the electoral commission.

”The fiercely disputed results of the presidential election of 2023 came with many fallouts, especially when what was speculated, and believed to be the true results that were warehoused in the electronic server of a foreign entity, were already known to the leading countries, thereby leading to credibility issues that our nation is currently passing through.”

He continued: “Our government trying to be subservient to those countries may only come as a temporary relief, but the fact remains that those other nations are capitalising on this legitimacy and credibility situation to undermine our nation to the extent that a war with Niger Republic was narrowly averted.

“The current economic hardship our country is facing also stems from the legitimacy crisis that arose from the presidential election. Our government has not been able to summon the courage to say no to the biddings of the Bretton Woods institutions, which has led to the removal of whatever little and rare welfare services the poor gets from the government in the name of fuel subsidy.

“It is our hope that going forward, the Electoral Management Body (INEC), among others, should be able to maintain its independence by being neutral and unbiased in the discharge of its mandate.

“Also, the laws setting up INEC should be looked at, and where necessary amended to insulate it from the interference of the executive branch of government by the removal of the appointment of the Chairman, National Commissioners, and Resident Electoral Commissioners from the hands of the president.
“The Electoral Act should also be amended to make it mandatory that electronic transfer of results be the norm and in any conflict with manually tallied result, the electronically tallied result in the IReV will take precedence.”

2023 poll worst electoral heist in recent memory —LP

On its part, the Labour Party, LP, described the results of the 2023 presidential election as announced by the INEC as the worst electoral heist in modern history.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, said: “The 2023 poll as conducted by the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC can best be described as the worst in recent memory.

“The election management body promised a lot but delivered little if anything. It was an election where the hopes and aspiration of Nigerians were dashed in broad day light.

“People were mobilized, they came out and voted based on promises of transparency made by INEC. At the end of the day, the man and the party which urged its supporters to ‘grab, snatch and run with the mandate’ were declared winners under the cover of night. It was a case of while men slept, their mandate was stolen.

“What happened was that our electoral laws were observed in the breach, violence was given a pride of place as our supporters were attacked, maimed and in some documented cases killed all in a bid for the mandate to be stolen.

“One year after the electoral heist (2023 poll), we are still here. As Nigerians we all can best answer the question whether or not our lives are better or worse.

“They grabbed power what they are doing with it is there for all of us to see. Lessons have been learned, the biggest being that ethno-religious sentiments don’t build nations, character and capacity does.
“As a party, the Lanour Party is an incurable believer in democracy and the rule of law. We will continue to rebuild and look ahead. We will work with our lawmakers across board to look more closely at our electoral laws to tighten loose ends.

“We must have the electronic transfer of results from the polling unit to the server as promised. Our security officials should be trained, retrained and empowered to remain apolitical before, during and after elections. Nigeria is the only country we have and it will do a lot better under a proper democracy.”

Tinubu’s administration a one chance vehicle — Atiku’s aide

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, has described President Bola Tinubu’s eight months in office as a “one chance vehicle.”

Shaibu argued that just as one-chance vehicle operators pose as everyday transporters in order to inflict pain on unsuspecting passengers, this was how Tinubu deceived innocent voters through his false promise of renewed hope.
Shaibu said: “As we approach one year of that disappointing and shambolic election, 2023 poll which was organized by INEC, it is good to reflect on how we got here.

A ‘con man’ sold a false promise of renewed hope to unsuspecting Nigerians many of whom hopped into his one-chance vehicle called renewed hope.

“INEC which was the organizer, referee and police also failed to block the rigging and mysteriously stopped uploading election results just like a policeman colluding with a one-chance operator.

“Like a one-chance bus, he refused to take Nigerians to their expected destination safe and sound. Rather, life has become nasty, brutish and short. Inflation is the highest it has ever been in the history of Nigeria. The currency is at an all-time low. Food inflation is at over 33%.

“Electricity across the country has gone from bad to worse. Insecurity in several states has forced farmers to flee. Several multinationals including Procter & Gamble and GSK have left the country. Rather than get to work, Tinubu and his handlers continue to blame former President Muhammadu Buhari as if they are not both members of the dubious APC.”

Shaibu equally said this current period calls for sober reflection with Tinubu still set to serve three more years in office.

”There is no better way to say it but Nigeria is in a deep mess and it is scary that this is what they will be facing for the next three years of Tinubu.”

CREDIT: VangaurdNGR

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Joshua Samuel

A conscientious writer with a knack and passion for story telling which spans across different sectors and segments. I love telling stories in writing and bringing quality, authentic and timely information to everyone everywhere.

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