Despite not uploading results immediately, election was transparent ― Observer Groups

Collins Nnabuife – Abuja

National Observer Group (NOG) a coalition of 18 election observers have said that despite the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) failure to upload results electronically, the electoral umpire displayed transparency with the election results.

The NOG said the accreditation and voting process with BVAS worked very well across the country with over 85 per cent success rate.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, one of the group leaders, Comrade Safiya Ogoh said without any shred of doubt, INEC conducted a free, fair and credible election.

Ogoh who is the National Coordinator of Patriotic Nigeria Women said “while it is true that INEC didn’t immediately upload the results from polling units on the IReV portal as earlier announced, it is important to state that all political parties through their agents have signed copies of the results”.

She said they deployed 2,000 observers and were present in 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the purpose of the election for pre-election, election day and result collation observation.

“The result of the elections as declared by INEC reflect the wish of Nigerians and are in
tandem with many non-partisan pre-election forecasts for the leading four Presidential
candidates.

“It is noteworthy that INEC has uploaded results from over 160,000 polling units
representing 92% of the over 176,000 polling units across the country,” Ogoh noted.

She further stated that Nigeria commends INEC for the inbuilt mechanism that allows for transparency in the election through BVAS and IREV.

“Most observers and those who voted during the election have confirmed that the results in their hands match the ones on the IREV portal despite the delay and initial technical hitches experienced by the Commission.

“We acknowledge noticeable logistical hitches in the late arrival of INEC’s ad-hoc staff in some polling units, and isolated violence in other areas.

“Despite these little hiccups, the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections will pass as the best and most credible election Nigeria has ever conducted.

“The results so far uploaded match the results our field personnel witnessed at the polling units. The results also match the ward, local government and state collation centre results,” she noted.

She said they recognise that in any election, the parties and candidates that lost always find it difficult to accept defeat, but the credibility of this election is best seen in the manner the electoral map has been redrawn.

“Who would have thought many established politicians, governors, and even the sitting
President and the President-elect could lose the election in their states.

“Several governors including those of Cross River, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, and
Yobe among others lost their states to the other parties. Some lost senatorial contests.
Nobody has queried the election result in Katsina for example.

“We commend INEC for organising the most credible election based on evidence at least
since 1999.

“There were very low safety issues compared to other election cycles. We commend the police and other security agencies for this.

“We must also praise Nigerians who have remained committed to the electoral process.
Nigerians came out to vote and ensured their votes counted.

“We again call on Nigerians to come out for the governorship and state assembly
elections on March 11,” she added.

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