The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit think-tank in Abuja has released its forensic review of the 2023 off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states on Sunday, August 18.
The review, according to the Chancellor of the Centre, Osita Chidoka, while presenting it on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, reveals a significant compliance with electoral rules alongside alarming instances of corruption that altered the election results,
The review highlighted the effective deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, noting that compliance with INEC guidelines was impressively high in most polling units.
In Kogi, 77.5% of polling units adhered to the rules, with Imo and Bayelsa states following closely at 73% and 84.8% respectively.
However, the review also uncovered significant anomalies, with the All Progressives Congress, APC, emerging as the main beneficiary of votes from non-compliant polling units.
In some areas, cases of over-voting and falsified results were rampant, with electoral officers entering inflated figures that greatly skewed the outcomes.
Speaking further on the findings, the former Minister of Aviation emphasized the urgent need for electoral reforms in Nigeria, arguing that all election petitions should be resolved before the swearing-in of elected officials to ensure that the electoral process is strengthened.
He said: “We must make sure that nobody takes advantage of the lacuna in the election. We should scan the results – all the paper ballots. They should appoint election auditors should scan the results.
“INEC has the power to review results within seven days. I think that mechanism has not been used by INEC. They should be able to review what the BVAS has against what has been entered and make sure they cancel all the appropriate results that need to be cancelled.
“We should ensure that we go back to the Justice Uwais report, and the Election Offences Tribunal should be set up.
“We should ensure that we go back to the Justice Uwais report, and the Election Offences Tribunal should be set up.”
