Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) monitoring the transparency of the results collation process in the 2024 Edo Governorship election on Sunday, urged Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of extant regulations and guidelines.
The coalition members namely: Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room; Viaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, ElectHER, and TAF Africa Benin, gave the charge via a joint statement issued by the Election Observer groups.
“Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022 which provides for the ‘Decision of Returning Officer on ballot paper’, states that: (1) The decision of the returning officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to—:
(a) unmarked ballot paper;
(b) rejected ballot paper; and
(c) declaration of scores of Candidates and the return of a Candidate:
Provided that the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.
“(2) A decision of the Returning Officer under subsection (1) may be
reviewed by an election Tribunal or Court of competent jurisdiction in an election
petition proceedings under this Act.
“We, the undersigned accredited Civil Society Organizations observing the 2024 Edo governorship elections, express concern over the transparency of the ongoing results collation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Reports of disruptions at Ward and Local Government Collation Centers, including intimidation of INEC officials and attempts to collate results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, raise significant concerns about the credibility of the results collation process.
“We acknowledge INEC’s recent statement recognizing reports of result mutilation and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.
“In light of this, we urge INEC to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC regulations, and guidelines.
“We further call on security agencies to refrain from interference in the collation process and to ensure that accredited party agents, the Media, and election observers are granted full access to collation centers.
“We wish to emphasise that the role of security agencies in the election is to safeguard the process and not to create a situation that will undermine the transparency of the process and thus impact negatively on the credibility of the outcome of the election.”