The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) Joint International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) on Tuesday said the 2023 general elections were marred by significant logistical, technological, and communications failures by INEC, divisive rhetoric by political parties, political violence, regional disparities in electoral integrity, vote manipulation and marginalisation of key populations.

However, they said some positives were recorded in the last exercise.

IEOM, in its final report on the general elections 2023, said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through its conduct of the election, contributed to the challenges that marred the outcome of the exercise.

The group’s report includes key findings on the pre-election, election day and post-election periods and offers practical recommendations for consideration by Nigerian stakeholders and partners to promote a resilient and inclusive democracy.

The body observed that the 2023 general elections despite the participation of youth marked the lowest turnout for national contests in Nigeria’s modern democratic history with only 27 percent of registered voters participating.

The body said that the new government, lawmakers, INEC and political parties would need to show genuine and renewed dedication to improving electoral and democratic processes in the future, while politicians would also need to show its fight against corruption and provide the Nigerian citizens with responsive and trusted institutions.

The report said that Nigerians needed to undertake collective actions to combat disenchantment, address lingering political grievances, and restore faith in elections and democracy as a whole.

The report added: “This report is based on information gathered by the joint NDI/IRI Nigeria international election observation mission, which was present in Nigeria from June 2022 to May 2023. The 40-person election day delegation observed the polls in 20 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FTC).

“It was led by a distinguished team including Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi, and Ambassador Mark Green, former Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Recognising that elections are about more than just election day, the mission also conducted two pre-election assessment missions in July and December 2022 and was supported by in-country thematic analysts who provided regular updates through the monitoring and analysis of the pre-and post-election periods.”

The report, however, said that there was still a space to confront electoral integrity challenges in the country and build on the gains of recent reforms.

But said this could only be achieved only through demonstrable political will, good faith, and committed and coordinated efforts among Nigerian stakeholders. (Daily Independent)

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