As Nigerians await the outcome of the Presidential election conducted last Saturday, Transparency International and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have said the exercise is a draw back on the successes recorded in the 2015 general election.
According to them, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not managed the presidential election efficiently, pointing out that shortcomings have been recorded.
The groups also expressed regret that despite the one-week postponement of the national elections, the electoral body still experienced logistics challenges which accounted for late arrival of materials in most Polling Units across the country.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Abuja, Monday, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, head of Transparency International in Nigeria and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), kicked against the militarisation of the electoral process, as witnessed in the Presidential and National Assembly held last Saturday.
“I am not sure if we have, in terms of being responsible and accountable, we have learnt anything. I think what I have seen is the continuation of impunity in many instances,” he said.
“Because when people openly engage in vote buying and justifying it, and when people engage in violence and nothing happens to them, this is not a lesson,” according to him. “Rather it is a draw back in terms of what we expected Nigeria in the 2019 election,” he said.
Also, presenting its third interim statement in Abuja on Monday, Convener of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, called for an independent inquiry into the poor management of the electoral process by INEC.
Addressing a press conference, Nwankwo also called for a special audit of election results in Polling Units where Smart Card Readers failed to work.
He said: “The election has been a step back from the 2015 General Election and actions should be taken to identify what has gone wrong and what can be corrected,” he said.
“Situation Room urges voters and stakeholders to exercise restraint to avoid further loss of human life and to seek legal redress were aggrieved.”
While lamenting that at least 39 Nigerians were killed in the election, he listed the states where the politically motivated killings occurred to include: Borno, Bayelsa, Rivers, Yobe, Kogi, Ebonyi, Lagos, Oyo, Delta, Zamfara and Taraba.
“The level of violence, hate speech and general toxic political environment contradicts the commitment to the Peace Accord signed by political parties and candidates prior to the elections. Politicians should commit to respecting the rulesof the election and under the current circumstance ensure that their followers do not act outside of the law with respect to election returns,”” Nwankwo said.
He noted that the absence of “robust enforcement of election rules incentivises impunity,” adding that Nigeria should, urgently undertake the process of strengthening the framework for electoral accountability. He urged the National Assembly to fast-track the process of passing the / Electoral Offences Commission Bill.
“Call on the international community to continue to lend their voices in defence of the integrity of the result. In particular we urge the United States and the United Kingdom to follow through on their earlier statement that they will sanction individuals whose actions undermine the election or have led to the death of citizens,” he said.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
