The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted a media report claiming that 94% of all contested elective positions in the 2023 general elections are being contested at the tribunal. INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, made this statement in a press release in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Mr Olumekun, the commission would have disregarded the report if it hadn’t originated from one of the country’s flagship and reputable newspapers. He further explained that the report contains inaccurate figures, confusion between pre-election and post-election cases, and a skewed comparative perspective that suggests INEC is responsible for election petitions.
Mr Olumekun clarified that a fact-check of the information regularly published by INEC, which is available on its website, would reveal that in the 2023 elections, elections were not conducted in 1,280 constituencies, including 782 state assembly seats. On the contrary, elections were held in 1,491 constituencies nationwide, comprising one presidential, 28 governorship, 109 senatorial, 360 House of Representatives, and 993 state assembly constituencies. Furthermore, the claim that state assembly elections occurred only in 28 states of the country is based on the assumption that no such elections took place in the eight states where executive elections are held off-cycle.
Stressing the distinctions between the terms of legislators and executives, Mr Olumekun stated, “As every attentive Nigerian knows, the tenure of legislators is tied to the legislative houses, which is a fixed term of four years from the date the Assembly is inaugurated, unlike the term of office of the executive which begins from the date they take the oath of office.”
Moreover, Mr Olumekun criticized the report’s attempt to blame INEC for pre-election cases arising from the conduct of primary elections by political parties. He emphasized that these cases are intra-party matters involving party members who join INEC to seek reliefs binding on the commission, despite INEC not being responsible for conducting party primaries.
Lastly, Mr Olumekun highlighted that many litigants in Nigeria file election petitions over improbable cases and subsequently withdraw or have their cases dismissed by the tribunals. Out of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 were withdrawn, indicating that in 891 cases (74.4%), the tribunals found no merit in the petitions and affirmed the result of the elections conducted by INEC. He expressed surprise at how the mere filing of petitions is perceived as a stain on the integrity of recent elections when, in reality, they are an integral part of the democratic process.
In conclusion, the report mentioned fails to take into account the specifics of the cases and instead analyzes the total number of petitions as if they were filed against the outcome of elections in 94% of all elective positions.
