GPAAN calls for investigation into conduct of presidential election

The Ayo Oyoze Baje-led Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria (GPAAN) has called for thorough and unbiased investigation into what transpired before, during and soon after the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections.

The call came in reaction to criticism from the country and the international community regarding the polls.

Concerned members of the Guild, some of who participated in election observation, are of the belief that since free, fair and credible elections symptomise the essence of democracy as a government of the people, as reflected through their choices, anything contrary to that should not be condoned under any guise.

Querulous issues identified as cogs in the wheels of the electoral process include, late arrival of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, late commencement of voting in some units and inadequate arrangements made for transportation of ad-hoc staff.

Other incidents were faulty Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in some polling units and failure to deploy electronic transmission of results obtained at the polling units in real time to the Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV) of INEC.

Describing the issues as “inexcusable”, GPAAN said there were several reported incidents of violence by paid political thugs and voter suppression. “Not unexpectedly, there were also allegations of vote trading and misleading, self-serving and unverified online news items,” it noted.

The Guild said: “Not left out were the issues of the connivance of some unscrupulous security personnel, who turned a deaf ear to the cries of some voters, under harassment and threats by some state governors and their agents of oppression.

“The areas where INEC performed creditably well, and deserves commendation include rapid response to complaints of technical hitches, as reported by some members of GPAAN on election observation, and the fact that the first set of elections went ahead as scheduled, in spite of persisting fuel scarcity, insecurity and the naira redesign policy.”

GPAAN called for full investigations into several allegations and complaint about INEC’s server that malfunctioned when it mattered most.

“That has left some unanswered questions about controversial election figures reeled out that are heading for litigation. All those found guilty should be brought to speedy justice, to serve as a timely warning to all.

“It is on this note that GPAAN is also calling on the judiciary to be truly independent, so that the people’s votes would count. That is the first fundamental step to a stable democratic journey,” the Guild added.