Off-season elections: Atedo Peterside expresses doubt over INEC’s transparency

Atedo Peterside, Founder/CEO of Anap Foundation and Stanbic IBTC Bank, has expressed doubt over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) ability to ensure that the off-season elections coming up in Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo, Ondo, and Edo States are going to be true reflections of the will of the people.

Peterside, particularly following INEC’s failure to upload the presidential election results into the iREV, has consistently voiced scepticism about the electoral commission’s capacity to earn the people’s trust.

He expressed his thoughts via his X account, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

His tweet read, “Many a true word is said in jest. What manner of Governorship Elections does @inecnigeria have in store for us in Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo, Edo, Ondo etc? Will their staff brag at the Polling Units that there is no plan to upload the results on IREV? Will thugs decide who gets to vote?”

Peterside’s deep reflections over INEC’s credibility come after the electoral commission failed to justify the huge amount of money allocated to the body to conduct a peaceful, free, and fair 2023 election, devoid of many electoral infractions.

The tweet by the Stanbic IBTC CEO sparked numerous reactions among his followers, with some expressing support for it and others opposing it.

Ayo Obe tweeted in response, “It’s a silly jest. Let the political parties get their act together and ensure that they have properly trained party agents at each polling unit.

“Because while INEC will still upload results to #IReV, collation of results will be done manually, using the signed results sheets.”

Another X handler, @Madam President, was more critical of the process, urging Nigerians, especially the opposition political parties, to separate themselves from using emotions to handle election issues.

She tweeted, “Sadly, this is why we are not doing very well in our quest for good governance in Nigeria. The opposition is largely emotional, have no alternative reasoning, do not interrogate issues like they mean to give the ruling party a real competition.

“It is all about ‘subs’, insult, anger for no reason, abuse, propaganda and often downright mischief. Should it not be more reasonable to study INEC rules and follow them dutifully, have your agents on site to record and report on the elections at every ward, than to expect to impugn an election by propaganda and bully tactics.

“Have the opposition learnt much since the last elections? Are they ready for the oncoming State elections? Your response to Mr. Atedo is apt. It is indeed silly jest like we have now come to expect from the opposition parties.”

However, INEC, in a recent communiqué, promised Nigerians that these off-season elections would indeed be credible, as they have made plans to use the Bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and result viewing portal (iREV).