YIAGA Africa raises the alarm over possible hijack of electoral process by political parties

A civil society group, YIAGA Africa has raised an alarm over the possible sabotage of the electoral process by unnamed political parties in the 2023 elections.

This warning was issued by Samuel Itodo, the organization’s founder during an interview with AriseTV “Morning Show” on Monday.

Itodo’s caution came in the aftermath of a clarification by the Independent National Electoral Commission over the mandate regarding electronic transmission of results.

The INEC, on Sunday, had assured Nigerians that the electronic transmission of election results has come to stay in the country.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, stated this in a statement titled: “Clarification on Electronic Transmission of Election Result” in Abuja.

Okoye said electronic transmission of results would be deployed for the 2023 general elections.

He said the commission’s attention had been drawn to a misunderstanding arising from a recent short interview granted to a national newspaper on the procedure for result management during elections.

During the interview on Monday, the YIAGA Africa founder expressed concerns about the composition of Resident Electoral Commissioners within the INEC.

According to him, some of the RECs were either affiliated with some political parties or under investigations due to corruption allegations.

Itodo warned that this might imperil the Electoral process while urging the National Assembly to ensure thorough scrutiny ahead of the 2023 polls.

He said, “As a civil society group, we gave expressed concerns about the composition of the INEC leadership because some of the RECs rarely affiliated to some political parties or accused of corruption charges.

Read also:INEC results on Ekiti election consistent with votes cast at polling units – Yiaga

“This is disturbing and we hope the Senate will scrutinise some of these names because some of these parties aim to hijack the process.

“The threshold for measuring the election credibility are contained in the Electoral Act and all stakeholders have to hold INEC accountable in order to ensure a fair process.”

Regarding the halt in the continuous voters’ registration exercise, YIAGA Africa empathized with the Commission due to the need over adherence to timeline in order to avoid disruptions.

Nonetheless, Itodo advised a need to decentralization of the CVR, with emphasis on distribution rather than collection.

“We wish the timeline was extended due to challenges encountered by some Nigerians but the commission said there are several steps with a rigid timeline for these steps. This is necessary to meet up with the timeline for the polls.

“INEC needs to review its protocols for PVC and ensure distribution, not collection because going to the LG is a disincentive for some people,” Itodo noted.

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