On Tuesday, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) of the United States revealed their final assessment on the Nigeria 2023 general elections, concluding that the polls were beset by logistical challenges. The Joint International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) reported that the 2023 elections in Nigeria were far-cry from citizens’ legitimate and reasonable expectations despite some positive developments in election administration, increased competition in the presidential race, and quality engagement of youth.
As per the US-backed CSOs report, “significant logistical, technological, and communications failures by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), divisive rhetoric by political parties, political violence, regional disparities in electoral integrity, instances of vote manipulation, and marginalization of key populations all had negative impacts on key aspects of the election process.” According to the NDI and IRI, 27% of eligible voters cast ballots in the elections, the lowest turnout for national contests in Nigeria’s modern democratic history.
Election officials should upload results image to IReV portal.
The joint observer mission called on Nigeria’s new administration, legislature, INEC, and political parties to demonstrate true and renewed commitment to strengthening the country’s democratic and electoral processes, combating corruption, and providing citizens with trustworthy institutions. It also emphasized the importance of genuine cooperation amongst all Nigerians stakeholders to address the lingering electoral defect and work continuously on the recent reform progress. The report claimed to be based on data gathered by an international election observation team to Nigeria led by the joint NDI/IRI Nigeria international election observation mission, which was present in Nigeria from June 2022 to May 2023.
INEC and the (new) Electoral Act of 2022 were put to the test in the 2023 elections, but predictable problems derailed legislative and technological progress. US-based advocacy groups urged that INEC immediately comply with civil society’s demand for a thorough, independent, citizen-led review of the entire 2023 electoral process. It also urged the electorate officials to upload all images of results from the 2023 presidential election to its IReV portal without delay, and to include results from all levels of the collation process, down to the polling unit level, in a machine-analyzable and bulk format on the IReV portal.
Lawmakers urged to prioritize gender quota legislation.
Beyond that, the commission recommended that INEC promptly release a full list of all canceled polling units, including the reasons for cancellation and the total number of PVCs received for each polling unit that was canceled. It is imperative that individuals responsible for any acts of violence or manipulation of the 2023 election are brought to justice by INEC, the police, and the courts. In addition, they urged that the international community identify and sanction the government and party officials responsible for orchestrating or tolerating any electoral violence or manipulation during the 2023 election cycle.
Moving forward to the 2027 election, lawmakers in Nigeria are urged to prioritize gender quota legislation. It recommended that the Electoral Act of 2022 be revised to accommodate absentee processes for domestic observers, polling officials, security professionals, and inter-state workers who are unable to be present at their registered polling units on election day. The IEOM proposed that lawmakers review the current legal framework to provide clear and well-resourced electoral offense enforcement measures. INEC should also make the process of compiling the results transparent by revising the guidelines to mandate that form EC4OG be made publicly available with the results forms.
Political actors should refrain from spreading deceptive narratives.
In addition, the observers urged INEC to develop realistic timelines and an operational framework. Members of political parties that promote misinformation, violent hate speech or ethnic polarization, or politically destabilizing rhetoric should be held accountable, and political actors should refrain from spreading deceptive narratives about the elections, their opponents, or democratic institutions. The report also called for an amendment to the Electoral Act to make it clear that security agencies have the ability to halt electoral offenses at polling stations, rather than defer to INEC officials for directives.
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IRI-NDI: Website
US groups report on Nigeria 2023 election. – Logistical, technological failures by the INEC affected election process. – Express your point of view.
The 2023 general election were full with several anomaly; from Box snatching, thuggery, marginalisation of certain people in some state, logistics and technical failure to result rigging. I hope the next election will be handle appropriately and devoid of corrupt practices by the INEC.
Yes, there were concerns about logistical and technological department, voter intimidation and electoral violence in several parts of the country, reports of harassment, violence, and vote-buying were widespread, undermining the credibility of the election results. The US groups call for urgent reform of the electoral process in Nigeria, should be take into consideration as it will bring about transparency and accountability. It is essential that the Nigerian government and the INEC work together to address these challenges and restore public confidence in the electoral process.
There we’re some issue that happen in some place while some other place as a good election process all this technological failure should be solve so upcoming election will not experience that kind of issue anymore
The US organisations’ calls for immediate electoral change in Nigeria should be taken into consideration since they will promote accountability and openness. To address these issues and regain the public’s trust in the electoral process, the Nigerian government and the INEC must collaborate.
We all know the actual truth behind the 2023 election and how everything went. The election results is ambiguous and we need the recommended changes on the election policy to be reviewed.
There were some problems that occurred in some places while others had successful election processes. All of these technological problems should be resolved in order for the next election to avoid similar problems in the future.
US groups report on Nigeria 2023 election. The election was not free and fair. Everything with the last election was not good. INEC selected president for the country not a democracy. A lot of manipulation was done during the last election. Millions of Nigerians are not happy with fake results
The U.S report really gave a succinct and detail report on how the election went. The election was full of malpractices like logistics problem, voters intimidation and suppression, stealing of ballot boxes, thuggery etc.
Finally the assessment from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) of the United States of the 2023 general election has proven that there are several anomaly in the conduction of the election by INEC. My concern is that why is the result coming now when the president and every other position has been sworn in to their respective offices? Well for the next election the INEC should make sure that the logistics and technological requirement are put in place and are properly functioning to avoid repeated situation of same.
There are a lot of concerns about logistical and technological failure by the INEC affected election process. There are reports of violence and vote buying from almost all parts of this country. US groups report on Nigeria 2023 election is something not good.