Proposed Review of 2023 election. Issues & Questions
Background:
Whereas INEC do conduct Review after every General election in the past. The outcome of such undertaking particularly after the 2019 election led to reform proposals that was used for the enactment of the 2022 Act that its passage gave so much hope that INEC chairman in his own words said before the election will give Nigerians “the best election ever conducted”
But starting from the period of party primaries, Nigerians began to witness the violation of the 2022 Act by political parties during party primaries and surprisingly INEC its self was complicit as National Commissioners like Mohammed Haruna said “INEC has no power to reject names of persons that didn’t participate in primaries” in response to the failure of the commission to reject names of individuals who didn’t participate in primaries despite the provision of section 84(13) of the new Act.
At the various FHC were outcome of primaries were challenged, INEC refused to use the Reports of the primaries it monitored to stand by the law. Even National commissioner Festus Okoye declared that Primaries reports signed by Recs not bidding because they are not members of INEC.
Similarly, during the election, INEC didn’t not adhere to the provisions of the 2022 Act and its Regulations & Guidelines on Transmission of election Results.
As a result, The outcome of the entire 2023 election elections are now subject of tribunal proceedings across Nigeria.
At the Presidential panel, it will be the majority votes of three (3) Judges if there is a division or unanimous five and at the Supreme Court the majority votes of four (4) justices or seven unanimous votes that will determine ultimately the next president of Nigeria and not necessarily the electoral decision of almost 200 million Nigerians . And same applicable at the state level where just majority votes of TWO (2) judges or unanimous three at Tribunal level or majority three (3) at Appeal Court or unanimous five(5) and Supreme Court majority four(4) or unanimous seven will determine who becomes Governor and not necessarily how the people voted if these judges are compromised.
*The Tribunal set up before the 2023 election under section 133 of the Act is the first legal forum to review the outcome of the 2023 elections
Questions
Why is INEC chairman and commissioners who are unwilling and refused to appear before Tribunal to participate in a Review calling for a non bidding stakeholders review ?
- Why is it that INEC refused to release election materials fully to petitions to enable the judges review how the election was conducted ?
- Will INEC use this review to tell Nigerians why the presidential election results was not uploaded having refused to do so at presidential election petition tribunal ?
- Do you think INEC will use the forum for the review to explain the “Glitches” that they said occurred why presidential election results could not be uploaded ?
- INEC Chairman is statutorily the chief election Returning officer for the presidential election, a duty he personally carried out for days without delegation and declared a winner. Why is he refusing to obey a subpoena issued on him as the maker of a document at the tribunal ? Why ?
- Why is it that no key official of INEC including Prof Mahmood Yakubu, National Commissioners, Secretary, Recs, Director of ICT, Operations or Director of Legal unwilling to appear even on Subpoena to stand by the outcome of the election results they declared at the tribunal for a legal review ?
- Does the current commission team of Commissioners still command public trust and confidence to listen to and accept any review findings from them ?
