The Nigeria Civil Society Room has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide details of the process leading up to the results it collated for the elections.

Development Diaries reports that Situation Room demanded that INEC provides information on why its promise to improve the transparency of the collation process through the introduction of the iReV Portal performed below expectation.

In its third interim statement on the presidential and National Assembly elections, the coalition of CSOs noted that the elections were marred by poor organisation, severe logistical and operational failure.

It also identified other issues of substantial disruption of voting, and several incidents of violence, adding that the process cannot be considered to have been credible.

‘Given the lack of transparency, particularly in the result collation process, there can be no confidence in the results of these elections’, the statement read.

‘In addition, there was very poor communication from INEC on election day and on its challenges with its processes; its citizens contact numbers did not work and even when there were challenges with uploads to the INEC Results Viewing (iReV) Portal.

‘This is all the more disappointing since the elections were held in an atmosphere in which the people showed remarkable commitment to democracy, eagerly engaging in the electoral process and waiting patiently to vote in very difficult circumstances’.

It further urged INEC to conduct an audit of polling units where elections did not take place to establish reasons for failure.

According to the CSOs, the underperformance of INEC has shaken gravely the public confidence bestowed upon it, and it would require extraordinary efforts for trust to be re-established.

INEC declared the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as president-elect of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential polls amidst irregularities recorded in the electoral process.

Photo source: Situation Room