By Angela Atabo
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room ,on Monday said the off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi fell far below the threshold of credible elections.
The Convener of the Situation Room, Yunusa Ya’u ,said this at a news conference to present the final report of the coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in Abuja.
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According to Ya’u, the disturbing reports of high levels of results falsification and other forms of electoral irregularities in the governorship elections raised serious questions about the credibility of elections and the future of democracy in Nigeria.
He said that Nigerians had expected that the lessons learnt from the 2023 General elections by stakeholders, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), would have been taken to improve the conduct of these elections.
“Unfortunately, this seems not to be the case, as these elections have proved to be another huge disappointment.
“The governorship elections conducted in these states represent a major setback for Nigeria’s electoral democracy,”he said
Ya’u said that the Situation Room observed that although polls commenced early in some polling units ,it was delayed in some.
He.added that the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), functioned optimally in most polling units where it was used for accreditation in these States.
He however.said that the Situation Room was concerned by reports of over-voting in the three States and INEC’s failure to apply the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 in addressing the menace .
“By permitting the bypass of the BVAS, INEC has effectively rolled back the gains of electoral reform recorded in recent times
“The Situation Room received reports of falsification and mutilation of polling unit-level results in the three States.
“INEC had acknowledged incidents of pre-filled result sheets before the commencement of polls affecting 5 LGAs in Kogi State –Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Mangongo, Okehi and Okene.
” Regrettably, INEC has gone ahead to collate results from these LGAs without conducting any thorough investigation and making its findings public. This is condemnable.”
Ya’u said that the Situation Room called on INEC to release data of accredited voters as recorded on the BVAS and total votes cast on a local government basis in these States.
He said that Situation Room’s network of partners reported incidents of violence in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states and some observers were attacked.
He said that the commercialisation of Nigeria’s elections appeared to have reached unprecedented heights.
He said that political parties and their agents operated openly and with impunity, distributing money in the purchase of votes without any effort from the security agents to contain it.
” Sums paid at polling units ranged from N1,000 to N30,000, along with cooked and uncooked food items.
“There has to be an effective mechanism to halt politicians weaponising poverty to win elections in Nigeria.”
According to Ya’u ,the Situation Room is deeply disappointed with the conduct of the governorship elections that held in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states and worries that the elections fell far below the threshold of credible elections.
“These elections represent a major setback in Nigeria’s democratic development.
“Situation Room calls on INEC to fully review the elections in Kogi and Imo States to identify the incidents of malpractice that took place and reflect the genuine vote of the people.”
Ya’u said that the Situation Room reiterated its earlier call for an independent audit of election administration in Nigeria and compliance with electoral law by INEC.
He said that without it ,the Situation Room was worried that not much improvement could be achieved.(NAN)
