…launches 2023 Election Cycles report

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AHEAD of the 2027 general elections, the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Wednesday, cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to avoid a repeat of experiences of 2023 general elections.

Speaking during the ‘Public Launch of the Report of the 2023 Election Cycles, the Chairman, TMG, Auwal Rafsanjani, said it became imperative to bring to the knowledge of Nigerians, politicians, political parties, relevant government institutions, development partners, and civil society organisations about what transpired during the 2023 general elections, and that the experiences of Nigerians should not be swept under the carpet.

He also lamented that politicians have abandoned governance instead running on how to keep power to themselves while Nigerians are being killed by bandits, terrorists, diseases and hunger.

According to him, incredible innovations such as the card readers, BVAS and IReV aimed to improve the transparency and credibility of the process, while legal reforms such as the electoral act amendment looked to block loopholes and strengthen the governance of elections in Nigeria.

He further asserted that the 2023 election cycle supposed to be an election to manifest the outcomes of the introductions of BVAS and IReV, as well as legal reforms of the electoral process in Nigeria, and added that more technologies are needed by INEC to sanitize the electoral process, therefore, it should be made mandatory for INEC to do that.

Meanwhile, some of the recommendations of the 136 pages report include; upholding of voters’ mandates in subsequent elections, and by so doing heavy sanctions are meted out to corrupt INEC officials, politicians, security officers and all persons who perpetuate illegalities in the electioneering process; Character tests of candidates from records of integrity, and community attestations as their qualifications before the election.

Staggering elections, making open debates compulsory, am oath with referees in a court of law should be made mandatory for those seeking public office; INEC should harmonize results on IReV with manual result sheets to arrive at a declaration of results.

INEC should investigate issues of bypassing of the BVAS that resulted in records of overvoting in some Polling Units; amd EFCC and ICPC should deploy more men on election days to curtail vote-buying and arrest perpetrators.

He said: “Imperatively, TMG in its tradition engaged alongside other partners in building towards the reforms. Most of the engagements which happened without funding support endeared and attracted support from USAID under the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project. This support enabled TMG to further expand its scope of coverage of the 2023 elections across the 774 local government areas of Nigeria.

“This wide coverage allowed TMG to see from north to south and east to west, the general conducts of the election including the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties and the electorates in shaping the 2023 general election in the country.

“Simply put, the 2023 General Election was supposed to become the benchmark for measuring election transparency and credibility. However, it left most Nigerians questioning the way forward for the democratization of the country.

“The inherent lessons from 2023 should not be quickly forgotten. Rather, it should serve as reminders to the changes that need to happen to ensure the upcoming 2027 election is better.

“As politicians begin to align and realign their loyalties, as they begin to cross carpet from all political parties to one political party, thereby, gradually instituting a one-party system, the credibility of the 2027 election is already at stake.

“The ideals of fair competition that defines democracy is already threatened and the rights of electorate to choose the best from many as enshrined in a multi-party democracy as Nigeria is being dismantled with the daily weakening of oppositions.

“Serious questions are glaring Nigerians in the eyes. Would the 2027 template be different from 2023? What are the lessons from 2023 that must be used to address 2027?

“This report which TMG looks to launch today; Telescoping Nigeria’s Elections: 2023 Election Cycle in Perspective looks beyond the conduct of the 2023 general election and throws its light on the judicial process that finally determined the various outcomes of the election.”

He also said the judiciary should cleanse itself from the terrible name associated with them now.

“More than ever, the judiciary became an integral part of the elections with its own credibility coming under severe scrutiny. Questions also emerged as to whether elections should be decided at the polls by the votes of citizens or by the technicalities of court cases.

“As the judiciary suffered reputational damages, so did INEC, if not worse. Off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states immediately confronted the new administration and INEC with the opportunity to show Nigerians if the nation was ready to organise free, fair and credible elections. This report is a reminder to us as stakeholders whether those off-cycle elections were any better than the general election or worse off”, he said.

Meanwhile, he said, “This report highlights the importance of stakeholder’s engagements. For organisations like TMG and other sister coalitions and organisations on democracy, the importance of stretching the engagements for citizens involvements as watchdogs cannot be overemphasized.

“The need for citizens to appreciate poor elections as the basis for poor governance must take the top burner to resist attempts of political actors to hijack the process for their personal aggrandizements.

“As politicians strategize to undermine the process, stakeholders must strategize to make the independent choices of citizens the key deciding factor in our elections. International Development Partners must rollout their support to ensure viable institutions and organisations with far reaching capacity are supported to expand their engagements ahead of the 2027 election.

“As we launch this report today, we hope that the recommendations serve as pointers to critical changes that are needed to improve the state of elections in Nigeria.

However, he called for international support ahead of 2027 general elections, noting that development partners and donors are not happy with the outcomes of elections in Nigeria, because of the level of investments they have made so far.

“For all the commitments of citizens, budgetary provisions, development partners and supports of foreign governments to make our elections better, efforts must be properly channelled to bring about free, fair and credible elections in 2027.

“We appeal to them not to withdraw support, if not the corrupt Nigerian politicians will continue to subvert the electoral votes process.

“We believe with your support one day we will have the desired political leaders in power, so please let the support continue”, he added.