The 2023 elections in Nigeria unfolded in two phases. The first, on February 25, covered the presidential and National Assembly contests, while the second, on March 18, involved governorship and state House of Assembly races. The March elections were originally slated for March 11, alongside two National Assembly votes that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later suspended in Enugu and Edo states. For the first time since 2011, the presidential and National Assembly elections were not entirely postponed, yet they were plagued by violence, extensive delays, and logistical failures.
Across the country, polling stations were scheduled to open at 8:30 am and close at 2:30 pm. However, a Yiaga Africa report found that by 7:30 am, election officials had reached only 27 percent of polling units. The Centre for Democracy and Development observed similar tardiness at many sites; for example, INEC officials arrived at 10:42 am at polling unit 023 in the Lawan Bukar area of Maiduguri, the venue for the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice‑presidential candidate Kashim Shettima. Delays were also recorded in the Federal Capital Territory, Bayelsa, Lagos, Rivers, Taraba, Edo, and Cross River states. INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu attributed the lateness to “perennial insecurity,” while logistical problems further hampered the delivery of election materials. In some locations, officials brought the wrong Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, and eight BVAS units were stolen in Delta, Katsina, Lagos, and elsewhere. Although INEC quickly replaced the seized devices, the overall performance of the BVAS was uneven, with malfunctions reported in Oyo, Lagos, Borno, Kogi, Rivers, and Sokoto states.
Violence disrupted voting in several areas. Thugs halted the process in Elegushi, the Ikate area of Lekki, and other parts of Lagos on Saturday. Observers from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development noted BVAS failures that impeded voter accreditation on February 25, while network fluctuations at PU 009 in Rivers State caused voter agitation. In Sokoto’s Goronyo Local Government Area, residents complained about BVAS failures. After the polls, INEC faced criticism for not uploading polling‑unit results to the IReV portal promptly, contrary to paragraph 38 of the 2023 INEC regulations, which mandates electronic transmission of results, uploading of scanned EC8A sheets, and secure delivery of original forms. INEC blamed technical challenges for the delay, which fueled opposition parties’ calls to cancel the results that declared APC candidate Bola Tinubu President‑Elect.
Following a performance review with Resident Electoral Commissioners, Yakubu acknowledged the hitches—ranging from technology glitches to official delays and partisan agent behavior—and said lessons had been learned for the upcoming governorship and state Assembly elections. INEC promised that the result‑viewing portal would function smoothly and that officials would arrive on time. Security agencies, including the Nigerian Police Force, the Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, assured the public that the March 18 polls would be violence‑free, with additional personnel deployed to identified hotspots. National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno warned that the day would be “complicated” but expressed confidence that violence would be avoided.
In contrast to the February elections, many polling units in Kwara, Nasarawa, Plateau, Oyo, parts of Lagos, and Rivers saw early arrival of INEC staff and security personnel, and BVAS devices operated effectively in states such as Ogun, Bauchi, and the Federal Capital Territory. Results were uploaded promptly via the IReV portal. Nevertheless, the rescheduled governorship and House of Assembly elections—held in 28 states for governorships and 36 states for assemblies—experienced heightened violence and voter intimidation compared with the February polls, despite extensive security deployments. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was visibly present at several polling stations.
Fatalities were reported in multiple states: three in Delta, six in Benue, one each in Osun and Niger, and an INEC ad‑hoc staff member shot dead in Rivers; another person was burnt to death in Katsina. Hoodlums invaded polling units in Lagos, Benue, Rivers, Taraba, and Ogun, destroying election materials. The Centre for Democracy and Development documented an increase in vote‑trading, especially in the North‑West, where party agents used cash, food items, wrappers, and “credit vouchers” to buy votes, redeemable after results were announced. In the North‑East, agents in Taraba infiltrated queues, posed as voters, and offered cash. In the South‑East, agents of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and Labour Party used phones and souvenirs to entice voters in Anambra.
Voter intimidation was widespread, particularly in Lagos, Oyo, Kano, Bayelsa, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Rivers, where thugs and party agents beat, chased, or otherwise harassed voters. Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes‑Vivour accused INEC and the police of complicity in Lagos, warning that “setting Lagos on fire” would anger its 22 million residents. APC spokesperson Seye Oladejo dismissed the claim as “scaremongering” by “bad losers.” Security expert Kabir Adamu affirmed that violence—mainly localized to campaign events and involving supporters of the PDP, APC, LP, APGA, and NNPP—significantly influenced the elections, though the overall outcome was deemed “peaceful.” Political analyst Busari Dauda echoed this view, noting that the elections were relatively peaceful with only pockets of violence, praising INEC’s improvements and the professionalism of security forces, and concluding that the results reflected genuine voter choice rather than manipulation.
Comments are closed for this story.