Coalition seeks fresh collation of polling units’ result to resolve president

Nigerias President-elect Bola Tinubu (R) and Chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood (L), look on during the presentation of the certificate of return to the President-elect by the INEC in Abuja on March 1, 2023. (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON / AFP)

.Demands Yakubu’s immediate resignation over alleged incompetence

Democracy Protection Coalition (DPC), an amalgam of civil society organisations (CSOs), has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh collation of results of polling units nationwide, to declare acceptable winner of the disputed February 25 presidential election.

The partners include: PADDI Foundation; Youth for Human Rights International; Renaissance Group; Parent-Child Intervention Centre (PCIC); Connected Advocacy for Empowerment and Youth Development Initiative; Foundation for Family Values & Health Orientation & Empowerment; Rural Renaissance Development Initiative; Rural Engagement and Development Foundation –REDFoundation; Foundation for Women Against Social Predators (WASOP) and Community Agenda for Peace (CAP).

Others are: Dynamic and Creative Youth for Change Initiative; Knowledge and Community Development Awareness Initiative (KCOMAI); Young Leadership Association of Nigeria; Youth Initiative on Alcohol and Drug Control; Hope Generation Next Network; North-East Youth Initiative for Development; Lawyers Unite for Democracy; Ideal Society Movement and Eagle Eye Transparency & Integrity Initiative.

The rest are: Democrats Unite; Movement for Emancipation and Rights of the People (MERP); PO Support Network; Citizens Unite for Democracy (CUD) and Governance Index.

At a programme, yesterday, in Lagos, titled, ‘Media Briefing by Civil Society Organisations: Observations and Recommendations on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Presidential and National Assembly Elections held on February 25,2023’, the group clarified that it was not asking for any particular candidate to be declared, insisting that outcomes of the polling units should be computed for a clear winner to emerge.

The convener and Executive Director of PADDI Foundation, Eze Eluchie, observed that the electoral umpire abandoned own guidelines and provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) in the execution of the disputed contest.

He regretted that none of the numerous promises by INEC to maximise technology in giving Nigerians an election worth relishing in years to come was kept.

Eluchie said: First, as citizens an members of diverse CSOs, who opted to devote our individual and institutional resources towards uplifting and bettering the affairs of Nigeria in diverse sectors, ranging from public health, gender and youth empowerment, culture and climate change, good governance, public sector accountability and grassroots engagement in public affairs, we have over the years realised importance of the democratisation process and democracy towards attaining the much-desired advancement of Nigeria.

“The above realisation, coupled with passage of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) and the oft repeated assurances by INEC, through its Chairman and other officials, for use of advanced electoral technology systems, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and machine-readable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), encouraged the various CSOs here represented, to undertake extensive grassroots outreach campaigns towards ensuring that Nigerians, in their millions, become involved in the political process by registering to vote, belonging to political parties and aspiring to political offices at various strata of governance.”

Noting the robust sensitisation of the grassroots by CSOs, the convener asserted that the exercise resulted in an “unprecedented increase of over 11 million additional Nigerians, who registered to vote in the 2023 elections, bringing the total number of registered voters to over 93,000,000. About 40 per cent of the registered voters are youths, most of whom are voting for the very first time.

“Buoyed on by the several and repeated assurances of INEC’s leadership for free, fair and transparent elections with the promise of real-time transmission of votes from the polling Units to a national database/repository of votes and INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal, CSOs across Nigeria swung into action to ensure maximum grassroots buy-in into the democratic project and space.”

The coalition submitted that having seen that the undertakings a “plot to deceive Nigerians and international election observer missions, demanded immediate resignation of INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, from office over alleged incompetence.

It urged the board and Nigerians to do the needful if the embattled chief electoral umpire fails to heed the appeal besides asking law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute those that compromised the poll based on Yakubu’s admission of infractions, among other requests.