The concluding part of the report which was first published yesterday.

In apparent contravention of this, troops were deployed nationwide during the elections, without any clear coordination with INEC. In Rivers state, the military posed significant challenges and obstructions to the performance of election duties by INEC officials. Situation Room received reports of incidents of partisan involvement in the elections by the military, particularly in Rivers state.

State Institutions

There are questions about the role played by the executive arm of government as well as other state institutions, such as the military and the security services, and their negative effect on the credibility of the elections. The security forces, especially the Department of State Services – the state security police – but also the military and the police on many occasions put themselves in overbearing roles on behalf of partisan interests.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The Situation Room’s report on the 2019 elections presents the analysis of the various findings in the course of the elections. It has also taken steps to highlight the inconsistencies in the electoral process. It is our reasoned conclusion therefore that the elections did not meet the credibility threshold based on the patterns of abuse of process and the consequent lack of integrity observed.

Communique from peace conference organised by the Goodluck Jonathan foundation(Opens in a new browser tab)

Recommendations

Legal Framework/ Enforcement of Rules

There is an urgent need for all stakeholders to put in place processes to tackle the lapses that have been identified.  INEC should work together with civil society organisations to immediately commence the push for reforms in the electoral process, working closely with all critical stakeholders, to achieve lasting reforms to the Electoral process.

2.The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill passed by the National Assembly and declined by the President, should be re-introduced, passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the President for assent.

3.The Executive should commit to passing reforms proposed in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill and also champion a credible implementation of the recommendations in the 2008 Uwais Panel Report.

4.The National Assembly should fast track the process of passing the Electoral Offences Commission Bill. Attention should also be paid to providing a more credible framework for political finance issues – one that ensures transparency, accountability and fairness.

In addition, amendments to the Electoral Act should include altering section 68, that gives unquestioning powers to the Returning Officer to declare results for an election even where such Returning Officer may have done so dubiously or as a result of coercion. Criminal infractions committed en-route to the declaration of results should also compel the review of results announced from such incident without requiring that remedial action be only possible through litigation at either the election Tribunal level or in the Courts.

5.INEC should take steps to ensure the uniform and firm application of the electoral rules across all regions, stakeholders, and institutions during elections. In particular where the system makes enforcement difficult, INEC should take steps to at the least, call out erring institutions or individuals.

Election Administration

There should be an independent inquiry into the poor management of the electoral process by INEC, the conduct of the 2019 Nigeria General Elections. This independent inquiry should address amongst others issues; procurement, logistics management, role of the security agencies and abuse of process by INEC officials. This is urgently needed to identify challenges and recommendations towards repairing the damaged credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process. INEC should work with civil society and development partners to operationalise this enquiry.

Nigeria’s election continues to be very expensive, the budget for the 2019 elections was 242.4 billion naira. This cost is not sustainable, it is important to open up national conversation on how to achieve sustainable costs for the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

The multiple numbers of political parties on the ballot for several of the elections including 73 for the Presidential election proved to be a logistical nightmare for INEC. There is a need for constitutional and electoral reform requiring parties to fulfil certain conditions before being on the ballot.

The failure of the smart card readers in identified polling units should be interrogated with a special audit of the results of polling units where 5% card reader incidence failure was recorded.

Following its findings from the independent enquiry, INEC should overhaul its processes and systems for procurement and logistics for elections.

INEC should improve education of its officials and ad-hoc staff on its processes in administering elections. In particular, ensure that training is timely and institutionalised.

Civil Society should do more to hold INEC more accountable in terms of its preparedness for elections.

Polling and Collation

Clear directives regarding the opening and closing times for voting should be issued by INEC in order to make the election process more predictable for voters.
INEC should conduct an in-depth review of the lapses in the collation process and take steps to improve the transparency of the collation process, particularly at the Ward level.

Election Security

INEC and security agencies to ensure accountability for acts inimical to the integrity and credibility of the polls especially individuals complicit in the burning of INEC offices, election materials, snatching of ballot boxes and other electoral offences.
Particular instances of contrived voter suppression due to violence must be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators and their sponsors punished to the full length of the law. These allegations must be thoroughly investigated to restore faith in the process and address lingering social fractures that reinforce feelings of exclusion.
The Inspector General of Police is called to urgently investigate allegations into Police overreach in identified locations in the country. We ask that such officers be held personally accountable for infringing on the rights of citizens in the exercise of their franchise. In the same vein, Situation Room also calls on the IGP to carry out investigations on all political actors who have instigated or perpetrated violence leading to the needless loss of lives.
The Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security should deploy security personnel in line with security risk findings taking into consideration major flashpoints in future elections.

Political Parties

A major risk factor in the 2019 elections was the behaviour and impunity of the political class. INEC cannot deliver free and fair elections without committed support by the political class. The level of violence, hate speech and general toxic political environment contradicts the commitment to the Peace Accord signed by political parties and candidates prior to the elections. Politicians should commit to respecting the rules of the election and under the current circumstance ensure that their followers do not act outside of the law with respect to election returns.

International Action

Situation Room calls for collaboration between election stakeholders and civil society organisations in Nigeria and the international community to help bring to account persons who subvert the electoral process as a result of their actions and activities. Recent decision by the United State government announcing visa bans against persons infringing the electoral process and subverting the people’s vote is commendable. There is a need for a worldwide adoption of the principle of visa restrictions against such persons. Situation Room calls on other countries to follow the United States example.
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