It has been widely reported that the by-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Saturday, August 16, 2025, in 12 states across the country was marred by violence, apathy and malfunctioning of BVAS in many of the places where the exercise took place.

For instance, the arrest of nearly 288 suspected thugs in Kano State, where the election was held in two constituencies, underscored the scale of violence.

But what many did not know is that there was another hitch that may have also compromised the integrity of the results of the bye-election.

The upload of the results into the IReV was not achieved 100 per cent in at least six states 72 hours after the conclusion of the bye-election, according to some election observers.

The observers noted that this is contrary to what happened in the Ondo governorship election, which took place in November 2024 and which results’ upload on the IRev was achieved 100 per cent the same day.

“In contrast to the recent Ondo 2024 governorship election where INEC successfully achieved a 97% upload of polling unit results on IReV by 9:30 PM on Election Day, thus ensuring timely and reliable public access to the result of the election, the Saturday, August 16 bye-election did not meet this standard”, some observers under the auspices of Kimpact Development Initiative, KDI, said in their report.

“As of 6 PM on August 19, 2025, the results upload on IReV indicated that only four out of 16 bye-election constituencies and two re-run election constituencies had achieved 100 per cent upload three days after the election.

“While BVAS and IReV have contributed positively to the transparency framework, it is important to note that the integrity of the election may be compromised if INEC is unable to achieve full upload, including details of cancelled polling units (Form EC40G), within two days following the election.

“This concern is particularly worrying in instances where results have already been declared, and certificates of return have been issued to winners. Transparency must be comprehensive”.

Sunday Vanguard could not immediately confirm the states where 100 per cent upload of results was not achieved within the 72 hours claimed by the observers.

But the states where the bye-election took place include Adamawa, Anambra, Edo, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, and Zamfara.

INEC had declared APC, the party in power at the federal level, the winner of the poll in 10 of the 12 states, while giving victory to the PDP in Oyo and APGA in Anambra.“PDP controls Oyo just as APGA is in power in Anambra.“The election in Zamfara, also controlled by the opposition PDP, was declared inconclusive.

Another election observer group, Yiaga Africa, which, although did not monitor the bye-election, said “it is almost like the IReV is playing little or less significant role in Nigeria election results process”, arguing that the development is defeating the whole purpose of the introduction of that system, “especially because the guideline actually recognizes the role of IREV in the results management process”.

The hitches In the bye-election appear to have sparked an agitation over the next INEC Chairman as the incumbent, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, leaves office before the end of 2025.

Yiaga Africa set the criteria for the appointment of the successor in such a way that would move Nigeria’s electoral sytem forward.

The criteria include non-partisanship background of the successor, experience in election issues and participation of the citizenry in the appointment process, especially the screening at the National Assembly.

The Director, Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, while speaking on the bye-election in 12 states, told Sunday Vanguard: “So the question is, what happened to some locations? Why did you have some fully-unit results uploaded in higher percentages than in some other locations?

“And then the bigger question of transparency because the idea is for locations; for instance, where fully-unit results are canceled, when the results, the fully-units are all to be uploaded, so that citizens can even have a sense of, okay, this was canceled based on over-voting, because then, it’s clear that it’s over-voting or something else”.

We’re not impressed with INEC’s performance – KDI

The Team Lead, KDI, Bukola Idowu, speaking on their report on the bye-election, expressed concern over low voter turnout, vote-buying, violence and late arrival of electoral officials.

Technology

”Kimpact Development Initiative observed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was deployed in virtually all polling units visited and functioned effectively”, Idowu said.

“The system improved voter accreditation voter and strengthened confidence that ballots were tied to actual registered voters.

“In many cases, ad-hoc officials were able to troubleshoot or receive replacements quickly, avoiding disenfranchisement of voters.

“Malfunctions occurred, but these were relatively contained, stemming from low batteries, device freezes, or biometric capture challenges and these represented 3.5% of the entire reports received from the 356 wards”.

On the failure to upload results to the IReV, the group said to strengthen the electoral process in Nigeria, INEC should meticulously document the lapse, saying the perception of selective transparency may jeopardise public trust.

Election logistics

On the election proper, KDI noted that it began later than scheduled in Adamawa, Anambra, Edo, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, and Zamfara) among others.

It went on: “Vote Trading: KDI’s trained observers recorded widespread instances of vote trading across many of the polling units visited.

“The inducements offered to voters ranged from cash payments (from N4, 000 upwards) to material items, including food and snacks. There was also the verified report of a vote trader who was arrested with over N25 million cash in Kaduna State.

“This practice undermines the integrity of the electoral process, as it compromises the ability of citizens to freely exercise their franchise and make independent choices”. “On incidences of violence: Our observation identified seven incidences of electoral violence in Kogi, Anambra and Enugu States.

“The Enugu State narrative is not far from the aforementioned.

“Reports indicate that a party agent of the APC was attacked at Enugu South Urban, Ward 5, Polling Unit 8. Additionally, in Sharuruwa, Shanono Local Government Area of Kaduna State, there are disturbing reports of voter suppression, intimidation, and harassment. The Yan-Banga group, armed with dane guns and sticks, continues to roam the streets, creating fear among both voters and election officials, and obstructing the conduct of the polls.

In conclusion, the KDI boss pointed out the bye-election served as “another litmus test of our democratic health and the strength of INEC in conducting elections”.

For her part, the Director, Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Mbamalu, pointed out that INEC had not implemented recommendations on lessons learnt particularly from the 2023 general elections.

Mbamalu argued that Nigeria’s electoral process was not showing any sign of improvement, saying most of the electorate had lost confidence in INEC as the bye-election witnessed voter apathy, vote-buying and violence.

“Elections need to go beyond this general statement of ‘we had isolated cases of violence and disruption’ and to start actually meeting standards of transparent elections that meet the integrity test”, she said.

“Now, why did I say so? The election still witnessed instances of vote-buying that was done across different states, so it wasn’t limited to one location per se or limited to one party, but this was something that you could see happening in different locations.

“But it wasn’t just about the instance or issue of vote-buying, it’s the bigger question around the quality of competition in the election, because it was almost a given that in a state where a party is the ruling party, that party was most likely winning the senatorial or constituency elections in that state, and so it raises the bigger question on the quality of competition.

“I think aside from the Zamfara election that was inconclusive, there were other issues around compliance or uniformity of compliance.

“In general, I would say that elections ought to get better, not remain in a stagnant form, and when I say ought to get better, it’s that for every election, the expectation is there; are lessons learnt from previous elections that inform the administration of the subsequent elections in a way that the lessons learned from the previous elections guide the application of the new elections, so that those issues are not repeated?

“And so moving forward, the bye-election is more like a test as we plan for the 2027 general elections.

“We also have Anambra coming up in November and other off-cycle elections next year. “The expectation is that, honestly, INEC needs to improve, one, in its rules, two, in its training of personnel, and three, in its ensuring that there is due and adequate compliance to the electoral guidelines, the Electoral Act, because Nigerians are actually losing faith in the electoral process and losing confidence in the electoral commission.

Vote-buying, carting away of election materials

”We talked about some of the instances of vote-buying that happened, issues around disruption and people that tried to disrupt the process and cart away election materials or were found in possession of electoral materials.

“It is an expectation that every arrest that has been made, people are duly prosecuted and that this is made public so that citizens know that, yes, prosecution is happening.

“That way it serves as a deterrent in the future elections and it reduces the culture of impunity.

Voter turnout

”And the other part is around turnout. If you look at the data on the votes that were secured or the number of voters that turned out in some places, the turnout was still low, and Nigerians need to take elections more seriously.

“We can’t keep complaining of bad governance when we don’t come out to vote in good people because the truth is, at the end, if only 10 people come out, results will still be announced”.

On next INEC Chairman

On the emergence of a new INEC Chairman as the incumbent leaves office later in the year, Mbamalu said Yiaga Africa is one of the groups actually advocating for a new INEC “especially as we move forward to the next elections”.

Her words: “The current INEC Chair’s tenure is coming to an end.

“And because it’s coming to an end, appointments will be happening, and, by 2026, we will also have about four National Commissioners whose tenure will also be coming to an end, and some others, their tenures will be coming to an end by February 2027, literally around the elections.

“And so, the call, honestly, is a review of the appointment procedure in the Constitution because we need a procedure that truly guarantees that whosoever is appointed to the electoral commission is someone that is independent, a person of integrity, a person that is non-partisan and has the requisite capacity, but we are also saying that, in the interim, because the constitutional amendment takes a long time, an appointment should be done this year because the tenure of the current chair is coming to an end by October, November.

“And so, we are saying that in the interim, while we are advocating for the amendment of the procedure for the appointments in the Constitution, we must call on the President and the National Assembly to ensure that in the appointments, there are certain things in place.

“First is the criterion of non-partisanship which is important, and for Yiaga Africa, non-partisanship means that the person has never been a member of a political party, past or present.

“The second is that the appointment should look at individuals that have expertise in elections or related area because to conduct elections needs some level of expertise.

“It’s not just about being in the academia or being a technocrat, it requires some level of expertise, and so, we need that to be part of the question.

“The other thing we are pushing for is that there is a lot more open process so that when nominations are made, the names are made public for citizens to make contributions by way of objections or petitions, and, for the National Assembly, the screening process should open to receiving petitions, objections, or suggestions on the process.

“We do not want a shoddy screening process. So, we are saying that this time around, because we know the appointments will be happening in a month or two, the process must be transparent”. (Sunday Vanguard)