INEC ill-prepared, jettisoned own guidelines for presidential poll, says Chatham House

United Kingdom based independent policy institute, Chatham House has released its analysis of the Presidential and National Assembly elections held in Nigeria on February 25.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election on March 1.

According to INEC, Tinubu came victorious with 8.8 million votes.

The presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar came second with 6.9 million votes.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, had 6.1 million votes.

However, Atiku and Obi have initiated proceedings to challenge the results at the presidential election tribunal.

Recall that Tinubu, Obi and Kwankwaso had presented their programmes at the Institute weeks before the presidential poll.

The Institute in its analysis said the electoral umpire has not learnt new lessons.

This was revealed by the Associate Fellow, Africa Programme, Dr. Leena Koni Hoffmann.

According to the analysis, INEC did not comply with its procedures, which it established before election.

Hoffman wrote, “The INEC’s performance and controversies over these results mean that the electoral reforms and lessons declared to have been learned were not fully applied and, as an electoral body, it was significantly less prepared than it claimed.

“The logistical failures of INEC and widespread delayed opening of polling units meant that voters who showed up at the polls early were frustrated, and many voters and INEC staff were not able to locate their polling units for several hours.”

The institute also said: “Less than half of eligible voters could participate in the elections, despite the commission’s N305 billion budgetary allocation. While Nigeria’s youth seemed energised leading up to the elections, it seems their ability to turn out is still being hugely constrained by how difficult and potentially dangerous it is to cast a vote in Nigeria.

“The INEC’s performance and controversies over these results mean that the electoral reforms and lessons declared to have been learned were not fully applied.

“At just 25.7 percent, the elections have the lowest recorded turnout of any election since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, despite being the most expensive. These dwindling numbers highlight how Nigeria’s politics and state institutions continue to exclude rather than include.”