The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to properly utilize the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Election Viewing Portal (IREV) during the 2024 Edo Governorship Election. This failure compromised the credibility of the result collation process.
While BVAS and IREV systems did not technically malfunction during the election, INEC’s deliberate refusal to implement them led to widespread irregularities in the collation of results. This has resulted in two conflicting Certified True Copies (CTCs) of results from INEC, both presented before the Edo Election Tribunal. Elections in Nigeria have historically been plagued by poor administration, questionable outcomes, and frequent litigation. This pattern continues due to the weak institutionalization of INEC, which suffers from a lack of financial and administrative autonomy, professionalism, transparency, trust, and oversight.
Read also: Complicit and rigging: What INEC learned from the 2024 Edo governorship election
Recently, the INEC Chairman acknowledged in Akure, Ondo State, that the commission had learned lessons from the September 21, 2024, Edo Governorship Election. However, critics argue that these lessons seem more about institutional rigging than about improving electoral processes. On November 3, 2024, forensic expert Jerry Wright-Ukwu accused INEC of fraud in the Edo election results. Such allegations heighten concerns about potential manipulation in the 2027 elections.
Martins Obono, Executive Director of the TAP Initiative, recently declared on Arise Television that INEC was complicit and actively involved in rigging the 2024 Edo election. Presenting “damning, incontrovertible evidence,” Obono alleged that INEC had orchestrated a conspiracy to subvert the electoral process, thereby threatening Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
Obono revealed glaring discrepancies between the CTCs of polling unit results issued by INEC and those uploaded to IREV. According to him, INEC appeared to have produced shadow results that differed from the genuine ones. While the IREV results were signed by different party agents, the CTCs were mysteriously unsigned. TAP Initiative enlisted the expertise of a renowned forensic handwriting analyst, who concluded that several CTCs had been fraudulently filled out by a single individual.
In Obono’s words: “Democracies are built on trust in institutions. If INEC betrays that trust, what does it mean for our future?” He described the manipulation as institutionalized rigging and called on the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to launch a comprehensive investigation to ensure accountability.
The 2024 Edo election was marred by over-voting, result manipulation, and systematic forgery of CTC result sheets. According to Obono: “This is the first time we have seen the electoral umpire itself as the main perpetrator of fraud. Nigeria’s democracy depends on the integrity of its institutions, and we must hold INEC accountable.”
Implications for future elections
The irregularities in the Edo election have significant implications for the upcoming Ondo 2024 elections and Nigeria’s 2027 general elections. More than 25 election observer groups described the Edo election as “the worst since 2007,” citing rampant manipulation of results, intimidation by security forces, and the exclusion of party agents and observers during result collation.
The use of IREV, intended to enhance transparency, has instead discredited the electoral process. The discrepancies between IREV’s uploaded results and INEC’s official announcements have eroded public confidence. Many Nigerians are now questioning the massive investment in INEC and its technology, which has failed to deliver credible outcomes.
At the local government collation level, the 2024 Edo election lacked credibility, drawing unfavorable comparisons even to the controversial June 12, 1993, election. Observers noted that the unit-level results on IREV significantly differed from those announced by INEC. Moreover, APC governors allegedly interfered in the election process, violating INEC guidelines and the Electoral Act of 2022.
Read also: Obasanjo calls for change of INEC leadership
Observers’ rejection of results
Over 25 accredited domestic observers rejected the official results declared by INEC. While they acknowledged that the results from the more than 4,500 polling units were satisfactory, they criticized the collation process at the ward and local government levels. Observers accused INEC of using two sets of result sheets—one for field use and another for collation at its Benin City office.
INEC’s compliance with the Electoral Act at polling units was undermined by violations during the collation process. This duality led observers to reject the final results announced by INEC, further discrediting the commission’s integrity.
Conclusion
The 2024 Edo Governorship Election represents a significant threat to Nigeria’s democratic process. The discrepancies and irregularities observed during the election highlight systemic flaws in INEC’s operations. If left unaddressed, these issues could undermine the credibility of the 2027 elections and Nigeria’s democracy as a whole.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via [email protected]
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