Following the controversial outcome of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election, which has been widely alleged to be flawed, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will punish every of its officials found culpable of misconduct during the electoral exercise.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs. The electoral umpire has been at the receiving end of backlash from Nigerian voters, groups and election observers, who said the election was blatantly rigged in favor of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), whose candidate Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner of the presidential election.
The allegation of election rigging, which emanated mainly from INEC’s failure to electronically transmit results from polling units to its portal in real time, using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, in line with Nigeria’s electoral law, has cast fresh stench on the integrity of the electoral umpire.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
In a move to save what is left of INEC’s image, Mahmood said both ad-hoc or regualr personnel found wanting for election malpractice will not be part the next election. He added that the next election, governorship and state house of assembly, will be conducted in full compliance with the electoral laws, including real-time transmission of results.
“As we approach the Governorship and State Assembly elections, we must work harder to overcome the challenges experienced in the last election. Nothing else will be acceptable to Nigerians
“All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including Collation and Returning Officers, must not be involved in forthcoming elections. RECs must also immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established,” he said.
Late arrival of electoral materials was part of the flaws of the presidential election – resulting in disenfranchisement. Mahmood told RECs that Election Day logistics must be finalized days before the election and must be handled by the Electoral Officers (Eos) at Local Government level.
“This has been our standard practice. Centralizing the process as was done in some States resulted in delayed deployment of personnel and materials and late commencement of polls.
“RECs will be held responsible for any tardy arrangement or the failure to deploy electric power generators to collation centers or polling units where such facilities are needed. The Commission has enough facilities in all the States of the Federation. Failure to deploy them is simply inexcusable”, he said.
Speaking on the concerns raised so far about the presidential election and how INEC intends to address them, Yakubu said there will be refresher training for ad hoc staff who participated in the last election. He explained that where there is reason to replace personnel, the new recruits must be properly trained so that processes are not delayed or compromised at any stage.
Yakubu said that the electoral body plans to address proven concerns of infractions, adding that any action taken by the Commission is without prejudice to the rights of parties and candidates to seek further remedy as provided by law.
The INEC Chairman assured that the BVAS will once again be used in the conduct of the election to accelerate voter accreditation and result management.
“Since last week, the Commission has intensified the review of the technology to ensure that glitches experienced, particularly with the upload of results are rectified. We are confident that going forward the system will run optimally”, he said.
The last Saturday presidential, House of Reps and Senatorial election, has been described as one of the most flawed in Nigeria’s history. The results are being contested by opposition parties including the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party, who came second and third respectively. The parties have accused INEC of announcing doctored results in favor of the APC.
Against this backdrop, political stakeholders, interest groups and observers have called on INEC to redeem its image by ensuring that the remaining election is free from manipulation.