The African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Observation Missions in Nigeria have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the system of uploading results in real-time by ensuring the quick upload of election results on its portal among others.
The leader of the AU delegation and former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the leader of the ECOWAS delegation and former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, stated this when they briefed the media on the preliminary report of the elections in Abuja.
Mr. Koroma also called on the electoral umpire to intensify and increase the frequency of communication on developments regarding the electoral process to the general public and promptly share information in order to discourage fake news and misinformation through social media and other means.
The report noted the increasing misinformation and disinformation on social media, including misleading conjectures and projections regarding the outcome of the 25th February 2023 general elections, are liable to cause disaffection and inflame tensions in the polity.
The AU and ECOWAS delegations said that quick uploads of results would ensure credibility in the electoral process.
Mr.Koroma said: “All we can do at this stage as we have done in the preliminary report is to urge INEC, to where possible, improve on communication with the public and members of political parties.
“Improve on the counting and collation methods and review the uploading, because these were all systems that INEC promised to rule out without any difficulties.
“And as observers, we cannot make conclusive statements but will continue to urge INEC because there is a lot of anxiety out there, people are anxiously waiting.
“And the more we delay, the more we give room to speculations, misinformation, and disinformation.
“We will continue our engagements with INEC and other stakeholders to ensure that what has started as a relatively peaceful process will continue and end up in a manner that is acceptable to every one of us, including the Nigerian populace.”
The group also urged INEC to ensure ongoing training of technical and ad-hoc staff to professionally handle and resolve issues related to the use of the BVAS machine
“We urge Nigerians to complete a process started in an encouraging manner,” Koroma said.
The two groups observed that polling unit visited on election day opened later than 8.30am, largely due to the late arrival of polling officials and materials as well as slow set up of the polling units.
Former President Kenyatta also said most polling units were not accessible to voters especially as there were difficulties in accessibility for people with disabilities, particularly those facing mobility challenges.
He added: “As the country awaits the announcement of results by INEC, the missions urges stakeholders to remain committed to the rule of law and democratic principles until conclusion of the process.
The missions further encourage any aggrieved party to use legally established channels to seek recourse”.
The groups also cautioned Nigerians against post-election violence.
Both missions condemned the violence, killings and disruption recorded in parts of the country.
They urged the public to disregard the provocations and continue to rely on official pronouncements on the electoral process by INEC and other competent national institutions.
Olusola Akintonde
